A deadly mix including Xanax is being sold as heroin in the UK

A report from an NHS Foundation Trust concerning contaminated drugs in the London area has come to our attention concerning the benzodiazepine, alprazolam. The batch was bought under the pretence that it was heroin but was later confirmed as a mixture of alprazolam, caffeine and paracetamol that, if injected, presents a significant risk of death.

The incident happened in the Slough and Guilford areas. The side effects reported are extreme drowsiness, flu-like symptoms and vomiting, although the vomiting is more likely to be a result of heroin withdrawal. Reports say the powder may have an orange tinge and has the appearance of foundation make up. There are differing reports to the colour of the powder when cooked; some are saying almost black, others are saying dark green or dark red. The number of incidents are unconfirmed at this time and the source unknown.

However, this is not the first time Alprazolam, a powerful sedative, has been unknowingly bought by heroin users. Earlier this month, more than ten people were treated after injecting the substance. There have been cases where not only was there Alprazolam in the batch but there was no trace of heroin.

Originally made to supplant barbiturates, benzodiazepines (Benzos) are a Class C drug used for many conditions including anxiety and panic disorders, insomnia and alcohol withdrawal. They are commonly used in the medical profession as a premedication for medical procedures. For most the conditions they can treat, it is usually only prescribed for short periods of time.

Common short-term side effects include drowsiness, decreased alertness and lack of concentration, longer term effect can include general deterioration in mental and physical health. Other reactions to Benzos include irrational aggression, violence and suicidal behaviour although these are rare.

Because of its widespread availability, benzodiazepines- alprazolam in particular- is the most commonly misused drug. Many benzos are used to alleviate the “come down” effect of speed ecstasy or cocaine. It cannot be dissolved fully in water and as a result, this can result in serious damage to the arteries if taken intravenously. A study in USA by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration found that if mixed with alcohol it could have severe and even fatal consequences.

We ask that people be aware and exercise caution. If any of the potential symptoms are displayed it is strongly advised to get to the nearest Accident and Emergency room to get treated, especially if you are in the Slough and Guilford area. Once again the symptoms are Drowsiness, flu-like symptoms and vomiting. If you come across any substance similar to the description above then do not use it.

Submitted by ciaran418 on Fri, 12/11/2010 - 17:14

Original Link via talkingdrugs.org

UK - Study: Alcohol is the most lethal drug, outranking heroin, crack cocaine, marijuana

LONDON — Alcohol is more dangerous than illegal drugs like heroin and crack cocaine, according to a new study.

British experts evaluated substances including alcohol, cocaine, heroin, ecstasy and marijuana, ranking them based on how destructive they are to the individual who takes them and to society as a whole.

Researchers analyzed how addictive a drug is and how it harms the human body, in addition to other criteria like environmental damage caused by the drug, its role in breaking up families and its economic costs, such as health care, social services, and prison.

Heroin, crack cocaine and metamfetamines, or crystal meth, were the most lethal to individuals. When considering their wider social effects, alcohol, heroin and crack cocaine were the deadliest. But overall, alcohol outranked all other substances, followed by heroin and crack cocaine. Marijuana, ecstasy and LSD scored far lower.

The study was paid for by Britain's Centre for Crime and Justice Studies and was published online Monday in the medical journal, Lancet.

Experts said alcohol scored so high because it is so widely used and has devastating consequences not only for drinkers but for those around them.

"Just think about what happens (with alcohol) at every football game," said Wim van den Brink, a professor of psychiatry and addiction at the University of Amsterdam. He was not linked to the study and co-authored a commentary in the Lancet.

When drunk in excess, alcohol damages nearly all organ systems. It is also connected to higher death rates and is involved in a greater percentage of crime than most other drugs, including heroin.

But experts said it would be impractical and incorrect to outlaw alcohol.

"We cannot return to the days of prohibition," said Leslie King, an adviser to the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and one of the study's authors. "Alcohol is too embedded in our culture and it won't go away."

King said countries should target problem drinkers, not the vast majority of people who indulge in a drink or two. He said governments should consider more education programs and raising the price of alcohol so it isn't as widely available.

Experts said the study should prompt countries to reconsider how they classify drugs. For example, last year in Britain, the government increased its penalties for the possession of marijuana. One of its senior advisers, David Nutt — the lead author on the Lancet study — was fired after he criticized the British decision.

"What governments decide is illegal is not always based on science," said van den Brink. He said considerations about revenue and taxation, like those garnered from the alcohol and tobacco industries, may influence decisions about which substances to regulate or outlaw.

"Drugs that are legal cause at least as much damage, if not more, than drugs that are illicit," he said.


By Maria Cheng (CP)
October 31, 2010

Man Denies Owning Bag of Crack, Found in His Own Butt

It all started when Raymond Roberts was pulled over in his Hyundai by the Manatee County, FL (yes, that's a real place), sheriff's office on Wednesday for speeding. When the cops approached his car, it apparently reeked of weed, so they made the 25-year-old get out of the car for a search. From the Smoking Gun:

During the search, when Deputy Sean Cappiello "felt a soft object in the crack of his buttocks," the suspect "began to tense up." Roberts volunteered to remove the item. “Let me get it, hold on” he said, and proceeded to place a "clear plastic baggie with a green leafy substance" on the car's hood.

It was 4.5 ounces of marijuana — though probably any situation in which a cop is groping around your butt crack would probably make you "tense up."

Roberts conceded that the weed was his, but the search didn't end there:

But, as the deputy reported, "I then searched his shorts again and felt another object that was in the crack of his buttocks. I pulled the object out from the exterior of his shorts and a clear plastic baggie with a white rock substance fell to the ground." This plastic bag, a test would later determine, contained 27 pieces of crack cocaine.

Roberts was quick to clarify the ownership situation. "The white stuff is not mine," he said. "But the weed is." Just because a bag of drugs is in your ass doesn't mean you own it. (It could be your son's, for example, and you are just about to mouth kiss it to him.) The crack cocaine had just been left in the car by a friend, you see, and when the cops pulled him over he decided to do himself and his friend a favor and stick it up his butt. It actually makes perfect sense, when you think about it.

Mexican assassins headed to Arizona

Drug smuggling gangs in Mexico have sent well-armed assassins, or "sicarios," into Arizona to locate and kill bandits who are ambushing and stealing loads of cocaine, marijuana and heroin headed to buyers in the United States, the Department of Homeland Security has warned Arizona law enforcement authorities.

In a memo sent in May and widely circulated since, the department said: "We just received information from a proven credible confidential source who reported that a meeting was held in Puerto Penasco in which every smuggling organization who utilizes the Vekol Valley was told to attend. This included rival groups within the Guzman cartel."

Joaquín Archivaldo Guzman Loera heads what formally is known as the Sinaloa Cartel, which smuggles multi-ton loads of cocaine from Colombia through Mexico to the United States. One of the most powerful and dangerous drug gangs in Mexico, it also is known as the Guzman cartel, which has been tied to the production, smuggling and distribution of Mexican marijuana and heroin and has established transshipment outlets in the United States.

The Vekol Valley is a widely-traveled drug smuggling corridor running across Interstate 8 between the Arizona towns of Casa Grande and Gila Bend, continuing north towards Phoenix. It gives drug smugglers the option of shipping their goods to California or to major cities both north and east.

The Homeland Security memo said a group of "15, very well equipped and armed sicarios complete with bullet proof vests" had been sent into the valley. It said the assassins would be disguised as "groups of 'simulated backpackers' carrying empty boxes covered with burlap into the Vekol Valley to draw out the bandits." Once identified, the memo said, "the sicarios will take out the bandits."

The federal government has posted signs along Interstate 8 in the Vekol Valley warning travelers the area is unsafe because of drug and alien smugglers, and the local sheriff says Mexican drug cartels now control some parts of the state.

The signs were posted by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) along a 60-mile stretch of Interstate 8 between Casa Grande and Gila Bend, a major east-west corridor linking Tucson and Phoenix with San Diego. They warn travelers they are entering an "active drug and human smuggling area" and may encounter "armed criminals and smuggling vehicles traveling at high rates of speed."

Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu, whose county lies at the center of major drug and alien smuggling routes to Phoenix and cities east and west, told The Washington Times earlier this month that Mexican drug cartels have posted scouts on the high points in the mountains and in the hills and "they literally control movement.

"They have radios, they have optics, they have night-vision goggles as good as anything law enforcement has," he said. "This is going on here in Arizona. This is 70 to 80 miles from the border -- 30 miles from the fifth-largest city in the United States."

The sheriff said he had asked the Obama administration for 3,000 National Guard soldiers to patrol the border, but instead got 15 signs. He also has confirmed that he got the Homeland Security memo warning of the assassins.

Rising violence along the border has coincided with a crackdown in Mexico on warring drug gangs, who are seeking control of smuggling routes into the United States. Mexican President Felipe Calderon has waged a bloody campaign against powerful cartels, and more than 28,000 people have died since he launched his crackdown in late 2006.

Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas, the ranking Republican on the House Judiciary Committee and a member of the House Committee on Homeland Security, has called the signs "an insult to the citizens of border states."

"American citizens should not have to be fearful for their lives on U.S. soil," he said. "If the federal government would do its job of enforcing immigration laws, we could better secure the border and better protect the citizens of border states."

Two years ago, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the investigative arm of Homeland Security, said in a report that border gangs were becoming increasingly ruthless and had begun targeting not only rivals, but federal, state and local police. ICE said the violence had risen dramatically as part of "an unprecedented surge."

The Justice Department's National Drug Intelligence Center, in its 2010 drug threat assessment report, called the cartels "the single greatest drug trafficking threat to the United States." It said Mexican gangs had established operations in every area of the United States and were expanding into rural and suburban areas.

It said assaults against U.S. law enforcement officers along the southwestern border were on the increase, up 46 percent against Border Patrol agents alone.


By Jerry Seper
The Washington Times
October 15, 2010

Marijuana, Meth and Ecstasy Use Up among Americans

Consumer confidence may be down, but use of marijuana, meth (methamphetamine), and ecstasy, along with nonmedical use of prescription drugs, is up among Americans. Between 2008 and 2009, illicit drug use among people aged 12 years and older in the United States increased from 8.0 percent to 8.7 percent.
The new overall figure, which is the result of a national survey conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and entitled the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), was mostly associated with a large increase in marijuana use. Approximately 67,500 people were surveyed.

Marijuana, Meth, and Ecstasy
The rate of marijuana use among youth aged 12 to 17 increased from 6.7 percent in 2008 to 7.3 percent in 2009. While this rise in marijuana use was significant, the 7.3 percent figure is lower than the 2002 level of 8.2 percent.

Overall illicit drug use among young people also rose, from 9.3 percent in 2008 to 10.0 percent in 2009. Of interest, however, is that the number of young people who believe smoking marijuana once or twice a week is harmful declined from 54.7 percent in 2007 to 49.3 percent in 2009.

When looking at the past-month use of ecstasy and methamphetamine, the survey found that the number of meth users rose from 314,000 in 2008 to 502,000 in 2009, and that among ecstasy users, the numbers increased from 555,000 in 2008 to 760,000 in 2009.

Among adults aged 18 to 25, overall past-month use of illicit drugs increased from 19.6 percent in 2008 to 21.2 percent in 2009. This increase was largely associated with more use of marijuana.

Some Good News about Drug Use
According to Gil Kerlikowske, director of National Drug Control Policy, “past month marijuana use was much less prevalent among youths who perceived strong parental disapproval for trying marijuana or hashish once or twice than among those who did not—4.8 percent versus 31.3 percent, respectively.” Cigarette use among people aged 12 years and older has reached a low of 23.3 percent, and cocaine use among the same age group has also declined 30 percent from 2006.

Results Not Surprising
Kerlikowske called the survey results “disappointing, but not surprising,” and said that the current approach by the National Drug Control Strategy, which focuses on “prevention, treatment, smart law enforcement and support for those in recovery,” is the right one. He added that “our efforts must be reinforced and supported by the messages kids get from their parents.”

Despite the increased use of marijuana, meth, ecstasy, and other illicit drugs among Americans, the number of people who receive specialized treatment for a substance abuse problem is far lower (2.6 million) than the number who need it (23.5 million).

You can see the complete National Survey on Drug Abuse and Health on the SAMHSAQ website. More information about marijuana, meth, and ecstasy can be seen on the National Institute on Drug Abuse websites.

SOURCE:
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration

DOO DOO DUMB TEST FREESTYLE! JUST W8 N SEE SUM REAL SHIT COMING SOON!

Violent drug war expands from Mexico into America

They found Marcus Turner in a ditch in north Mississippi, naked and shot to death.

It was the end of a young man's life and a grim reminder of a larger truth: The Mexican drug war isn't as far away as you might think.

The order that led to Turner's death was phoned in from Mexico, prosecutors say. They say the man on the other end of the line was Craig Petties of Memphis, Tenn., alleged to be a drug trafficker who developed such close ties to a Mexican cartel that he moved south of the border and lived under its protection for years.

His story reflects the tight links between Mexican cartels and homegrown drug trafficking organizations throughout the nation. It also shows that Americans who buy illegal drugs contribute to funding corruption and killings in Mexico.

Petties could face the death penalty on charges that he ordered assassinations of six Memphis rivals while operating a trafficking empire that funneled hundreds of kilos of cocaine and more than a ton of marijuana into Tennessee and other states.

Petties has pleaded not guilty and awaits trial. He and his attorney declined interview requests.

The case is a personal tragedy for the family of Marcus Turner, whom Petties allegedly ordered kidnapped in 2006 because he knew where to find someone who had stolen cocaine from the organization.

Turner's mother, Lucy Turner of West Memphis, Ark., says her son was involved in the drug trade and that she begged him to change.

"And he did tell me before he died, 'Mama, I do what I do by choice. Not because I don't know better. Because you and Daddy taught me well'."

The Turner kidnapping is one of many acts of violence that authorities have linked to Petties, who grew up in a tough South Memphis neighborhood and built an extensive criminal record.

U.S. Marshals say he is a half brother to Paul Beauregard, better known as DJ Paul of the popular rap group Three 6 Mafia, which has produced songs about drug trafficking and killings. Through a publicist, Beauregard declined comment.

The pending federal case against Petties dates to 2001, when he and others were caught with 600 pounds of marijuana.

Released on bail, Petties disappeared in 2002, officials say. It's unclear when he arrived in Mexico.

Petties was living under the protection of the Beltran Leyva cartel, with whom he had done business in the U.S., the former attorney general of Mexico, Eduardo Medina Mora, has said.

The cartel's leaders were the Beltran Leyva brothers, a group of five or six men who would later break off from the larger Sinaloa Cartel, based on Mexico's Pacific coast.

Medina Mora said that Petties became a broker for the cartel, "using his contacts in the United States to secure and speed up the traffic of drugs to the north."

Petties was a key liaison between the cartel and African-American groups and his flight to Mexico may have even helped him expand the enterprise beyond Memphis and into Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina and Texas, Drug Enforcement Administration agent Abe Collins wrote in a 2008 affidavit.

Mexican groups dominate wholesale-level drug dealing in the United States and act as drug distributors or suppliers in at least 230 U.S. cities, the National Drug Intelligence Center wrote in a December 2008 report.

"The growing strength and organization of criminal gangs, including their growing alliances with large Mexican (cartels), has changed the nature of midlevel and retail drug distribution in many local drug markets, even in suburban and rural areas," the center wrote in 2009.

That makes it harder for state and local authorities to fight trafficking, the report says.

In Memphis, for instance, most of the cocaine, marijuana and methamphetamine that arrives is smuggled from Mexico and delivered by 18-wheelers or cars with secret compartments, said Keith Brown, who until recently served as resident agent in charge for the DEA.

He said Mexican cartels act as suppliers but usually don't control sales in Memphis.

About 6,600 people died in drug-related violence in Mexico last year.

America has seen relatively little violence by Mexican cartels because traffickers view U.S. law enforcement as more competent and less corrupt than Mexican institutions, said Alex Posey, an analyst with the global intelligence company STRATFOR.

But the Mexican military and other Mexican agencies were responsible for Petties' January 2008 capture in a city called Queretaro.

Petties was quickly deported home.

Later that month, the Mexican military arrested Alfredo Beltran Leyva, one of the brothers in the cartel's leadership.

The remaining brothers suspected betrayal by the Sinaloa Cartel, a group they had been part of, according to drug cartel expert George W. Grayson.

That led to a bloody war between the cartels.

Then on Dec. 17, 2009, Mexican Marines killed cartel leader Arturo Beltran Leyva and six of his men in a shootout. It appeared to be a victory in the war on cartels that Mexican president Felipe Calderon has waged since the 2006 start of his presidency.

The Marines lost one man, whom they buried with honors.

But after the funeral, assassins broke into a house and killed the Marine's mother, his aunt, a sister, and a brother.

Shortly thereafter, Petties was moved from the federal lockup in Memphis to another federal institution in Tallahassee, Fla. The Bureau of Prisons won't say why.

One possible reason emerged in June, when Petties was indicted for having weapons while imprisoned in Memphis.

As Petties awaits trial, Marcus Turner's three children are growing up without a father.

Lucy Turner, who works as an emergency services dispatcher, said the loss of her son has affected the youngest daughter, who's now eight.

"Her doctor says she's very depressed, and he thinks that's what she's depressed about," she said. "But she talks about her daddy all the time."

Lucy Turner didn't weep in a recent interview. She says that a few months ago, she wouldn't have been as strong.

"I would just cry my heart out. That was my baby."


By DANIEL CONNOLLY - Scripps Howard News Service
Posted: July 30, 2010

Android Edges Past iPhone in New Smartphone Subscriptions for Q2 - Phandroid.com

Android’s market share continues to rise, and — according the latest smartphone penetration figures presented by Nielsen — for the first time Android has over-taken the iPhone in new subscriptions during the second quarter of 2010. While overall subscriptions have continued to grow with 25 percent of the mobile market now using a smartphone, Google’s Android again saw big growth, up to 13 percent overall share compared to Q1’s 9 percent. It was the largest growth for any smartphone platform.

In terms of subscriptions over the past month, Android has surpassed iPhone in new users, with 27 percent of smartphone subscribers going with Android compared to the iPhone’s 23 percent. RIM still holds the highest but steadily declining figure at 33 percent. It will be interesting to see the numbers for quarter three after the iPhone 4 and new Android phones from Motorola on Verizon have had a good chunk of time to stew.

POEM: "Be the One"

Always fight, no matter the resistance
Stay focused and maintain persistence
Cuz demons will come and try to take you
How will you fare? when theres no one to save you?
If your mind is strong, you can take them down!
The weak die quickly,quietly, with no sound...
nothing but evil layed on the ground.
Follow your dreams,be relentless...UNTIL DEATH!
There will always be snakes, rats, haters talking under breath.
Ignore the bullshit and FUCK what they say!
Don't trip on the past or future, just work on today.

....Me? I have faith in myself, today I have focus.
When I start to rhyme, my words swarm like locusts.
I keep my game on point and my goals in mind,
you can either roll with the real...or walk with the blind

Written 7/31/10 by So-cal Snow AKA Young Powder.

Yes its snowing again

im back baby! whats up my hip hoppin, xtc poppin, acid droppin savages! your boy So-cal Snow aka Silent Snow aka Young Powder and im back on the race track!

Did a 90 day stretch at rehab and doin absolutely great. I am and forever will be smoking weed but thats not to say my 3 months were a waste. Your boy actually gained quite a lot of knowledge. Bottom line is having your own personal connection with God (Higher Power) and control and rationality! Right now ya boy has a job and a place to stay (soon2be a private apt) just got a 2nd job and big things coming which will be explained in a video blog in the next few days.

g2g back to work PEACE N LUV AND GOD BLESS

ScS So-cal Snow