10,000 border arrests due to screening system

 

10,000 criminals including rapists and murderers have been held at the UK border thanks to a screening system begun in 2005, a minister has said. Air and sea carriers using UK ports and airports submit passenger and crew details electronically to the e-Borders screening system, prior to travel. It results in about 52 weekly arrests, Immigration Minister Damian Green says. He praised the UK Border Agency and police for the scheme, which covers up to 55% of journeys to and from the UK. "By checking passenger and crew information before travel, law enforcement agencies can apprehend those trying to evade justice," Mr Green said. "From 2013 the new dedicated Border Policing Command, part of the National Crime Agency, will further strengthen security at the border, providing leadership and coordination based on a single national threat assessment and strategy." E-Borders has not avoided controversy. The government faces the threat of a lawsuit from Raytheon, the firm which managed the £750m system until Mr Green terminated its contract in July 2010 over delays to its full implementation. Raytheon says the problems were down to UK Border Agency mismanagement of the scheme. But John Donlon, of the Association of Chief Police Officers, said e-borders would continue to play a key role. Extending scheme "Police have been able to identify those wanted for offences before they leave or when they return to the UK, bringing offenders to justice and supporting counter-terrorist and serious crime investigations," he said. More than 125 million passengers' details were screened in the year to September, resulting in 2,700 arrests. Among those detained were 11 murderers, 22 rapists, 316 violent criminals and 126 drug offenders, government figures show. The government is extending the number of routes and carriers covered by the e-Borders system and will re-introduce exit checks by 2015. "Inevitably as more routes are covered the number of arrests will grow," Mr Donlon added. The border agency said recent successes included the arrest at Manchester Airport of a 44-year-old man who was later charged with sexually grooming a boy after an alert from Swiss authorities, and the detention of a man wanted for a rape 14 years ago. Other cases involved the jailing of a Spanish drugs courier trying to smuggle 1kg of cocaine from Brazil, the arrest of one man from Dubai who was wanted for a £5.7m theft and another who was suspected of a £50m fraud. Meanwhile, the agency said on Sunday it had blacklisted nearly 3,000 banks it believed could not be trusted to verify documents supporting student visa applications.

charity worker employed by one of David Cameron’s Big Society gurus has been arrested on suspicion of smuggling cocaine with a street value of £120,000

charity worker employed by one of David Cameron’s Big Society gurus has been arrested on suspicion of smuggling cocaine with a street value of £120,000 into Britain.

Former US gang member Derrick ‘Anthony’ Mitchell was held at Heathrow this month after UK Border Agency officers allegedly discovered 3kg of drugs in his luggage. 

Mitchell, 37, is a duty manager at the South London-based Kids Company founded by charity boss Camila Batmanghelidjh. She set it up in 1996 to care for abused, neglected or  abandoned children in London’s inner-city communities. 

She has been described as ‘Britain’s most colourful charity leader’ because of her style, dress sense and selfless approach to charity work. 

The award-winning author and campaigner was invited  to 10 Downing Street last year. 

She also advises former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith and is thought to be one of the inspirations behind Mr Cameron’s pledge to ‘hug a hoodie’. 
Ms Batmanghelidjh spoke of her shock at the allegations surrounding Mr Mitchell, whom  she described as a ‘street-level youth mentor’.

She said: ‘Obviously, because the judicial process needs to take place, we cannot legally comment. The only thing I can say is that the alleged incident took place while he was on holiday in his own time.

‘At this stage I do not know enough to know the full details. But as a worker, he gave exceptional commitment to the kids over a number of years and I can never take that away from him. 

Pledge: David Cameron's Big Society aims to 'take power away from politicians and give it to people'

As an organisation, we employ a range of people and a lot of them have had challenging backgrounds as children and we have given them chances. The majority of them go on to do incredibly well.

‘In the situation of this individual, if what is alleged has occurred, he has made an abhorrent choice and I do not agree with it.’ 

Camila Batmanghelidjh said she was shocked at the allegations surrounding Mr Mitchell, claiming he gave 'exceptional commitment to the kids'

Mitchell, of Camberwell, south London, was arrested at Heathrow on October 6 and remanded in custody by Uxbridge magistrates the next day. He will reappear in court in the next month. 

The university undergraduate has previously spoken of deciding to rebuild his life after leaving a violent street gang in Miami.

He claimed he had earlier sold drugs and lost a family member to violence at the age of 19 when his sister bled to death after being stabbed in a leg.

After coming to Britain in his 20s, he began working with the charity about five years ago, attempting to convince youths in gangs to turn their back on crime. 

Kids Company operates from three centres in Southwark, Lambeth and Camden in London, as well as working in 37 inner-city schools.

It employs more than 600 people in full and part-time roles to reach out to 14,000 children from the capital’s most deprived and crime-ridden areas. 

Many of the youngsters live with  parents who are unable to care  for them and have had severely troubled lives.

Chicago area had the most heroin-related hospital visits in the nation.

 

2010 study by Roosevelt University researchers found the Chicago area had the most heroin-related hospital visits in the nation. The drug is cheap, and it's attracting users everywhere including some who are very young. Today's heroin can be snorted or smoked -- not just injected -- and that's led to a change in the typical user. Increasingly, today's addict is young, female and from the suburbs. And the roots of their addiction can be found in their family's medicine cabinet. For many, the road to dependence begins at independence --one of a handful of West Side exits off the Eisenhower serve as the gateway to the nation's busiest heroin corridor. "The ride there you're just anxiety, just, 'Oh I can't wait to get there. I can't wait to get it. I can't wait to feel better,'" said a 19-year-old female heroin addict whose scar are more than skin deep. She grew up far from the west side's rough and tumble streets, amidst the manicured lawns of the far west suburbs which seems an unlikely breeding ground for a new crop of heroin users. "I always thought of them as homeless and not caring about what they look like and real skinny and everything," the 19-year-old addict said. Heroin has never been cheaper and more pure. Just $100 can buy a two day supply. "I knew. The first time I did it I was like, 'This is bad. I like this way too much. And this is going to be bad," said the 19-year-old addict, whose identity ABC7 has hidden. DEA Agent Jack Riley says powerful Mexican drug cartels have partnered with Chicago street gangs to make heroin easily available. "If I had to liken anything to a weapon of mass destruction, it would be heroin," Riley said. After smuggling the drugs here, Riley says the cartels often operate in Spanish-speaking areas near Midway Airport. "They can assimilate into these hard working neighborhoods. They can appear to be great citizens, take care of their lawn, put Christmas lights up," Riley said. The cartels need the gangs to distribute the drugs but officials say fights between the two groups are increasingly to blame for the near-daily violence plaguing some neighborhoods. "What we consider to be senseless violent acts, many of them may be actually connected to the cartel's operations in Chicago," Riley said. It seems the danger is of little deterrent to users. "Within two weeks I was getting sick physically without it, and I needed it," the 19-year-old addict said. It wasn't until an overdose nearly killed her that she began treatment a few weeks ago at New Hope Recovery Center in Geneva. In four years, the facility has seen a seven-fold increase in heroin cases and many involve teens first hooked on prescription painkillers. "They'll run out, and someone will say 'Well, snort some heroin. It'll help you, so you won't go through withdrawals,'" said Jake Epperly, New Hope Recovery Center. That may have been how Billy Roberts began using. The Homer Glen 19-year-old died of an overdose two years ago and his father now warns of heroin's dangers. "I do it for him," said the victim's father John Roberts. "And I'll continue doing it as long as I'm alive. To give my son's life meaning. A former Chicago cop, Roberts says it's time for new solutions. "We need help. The police cannot do this alone. We need a comprehensive, strategic approach to this problem if we're ever going to see these numbers turn downward," Roberts said. To put in perspective how big the problem is here, the Chicago DEA has secured funding for a 90-person strike force to combat the operation run by the cartels and gangs in the city. Officials say it's the only such strike force outside of the U.S.-Mexico border. The 19-year-old woman interviewed by ABC7, who is currently in treatment, says she knows at least 20 other kids her age, from her community, who are current or former users.

Roxies sell on the street for as much as $30 per pill and offer a high that tops crack, heroin or meth

PHOTO BY MICHAEL PATRICK, COPYRIGHT © 2011 // BUY THIS PHOTO

Michael Patrick/news sentinel The two most wanted prescription pills on the streets of East Tennessee. The small pills are Roxie 30 and the large green pill is an Oxycontin 80. The second-generation Oxys, made by Purdue Pharma, are now wrapped in a sticky gelcap coating that will burn nostrils and resists needles.

PHOTO BY SOURCE: U.S. DRUG ENFORCEMENT ADMINISTRATION, NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DRUG ABUSE

Effects of oxycodone: The high caused by oxycodone and other opiates affects nearly every major organ in the human body. So does withdrawal. This chart illustrates some of those effects.

Oxy's out. Roxies rule.A tiny blue pill, no bigger than a baby aspirin, overshadows nearly every other illegal drug on the market in East Tennessee. Men and women beg, haggle, threaten, lie, steal and kill — all for a handful of pills.

"It's the new crack," Knox County Sheriff's Office Lt. John Hopkins said. "Most of the addicts we see don't even shop for Oxys now. They've all switched to Roxies, and it's worse than crack ever was."

Doctors, police and emergency workers see the fallout every day. Sometimes it's a pill-sick addict who steals today to buy tonight's fix. Sometimes it's a baby born shaking with seizures from withdrawal.

Commonly abused prescription drugs

Oxycontin: A time-release form of oxycodone, an opioid painkiller, produced by Purdue Pharma and used to treat chronic pain. Strengths range up to 80 mg per pill. Nicknames include Oxys, O's and hillbilly heroin.

Roxicodone: Instant-release form of oxycodone produced by Xanodyne Pharmaceuticals and used to treat breakthrough pain. Strengths range up to 30 mg per pill. Nicknames include Roxies, blues and stars.

Opana: Time-release form of oxymorphone, a synthetic opioid, produced by Endo Pharmaceuticals. Nicknames include stop signs, biscuits, octagons and Mrs. O.

Methadone: Synthetic opioid, typically prescribed in pill or wafer form, used to treat pain and to ease withdrawal symptoms for opiate addicts.

Percocet, Endocet, Roxicet: Mixtures of oxycodone and acetaminophen.Percodan, Endodan, RoxiprinMixtures of oxycodone and aspirin.

Vicodin, Lortab, Lorcet: Mixtures of hydrocodone and acetaminophen. Nicknames include Vikes and hydros.

Fentanyl: Synthetic opioid, stronger than morphine, typically prescribed in patch or lollipop form. Nicknames include china white and perc-a-pop.

Xanax: Brand name of alprazolam, a benzodiazepine produced by Pfizer and used to treat panic, anxiety and insomnia. Strengths range up to 2 mg. Nicknames include footballs and totem poles.

Valium: Brand name of diazepam, a benzodiazepine produced by Roche and used to treat panic, anxiety and insomnia. Strengths range up to 10 mg.

Klonopin: Brand name of clonazepam, a benzodiazepine produced by Roche and used to treat panic, anxiety and insomnia. Strengths range up to 2 mg.

Ambien: Brand name of zolpidem tartrate, a sedative produced by Sanofi-Aventis. Strengths range up to 10 mg.

Suboxone: Combination of buprenorphine and naloxone, used to treat opiate withdrawal.

Pill Sick: The series

Sunday

Tennessee drug task force waging lonely war on Rx diversion

Law enforcement battling to cut off pain drug pipeline

Drug war's new front makes for unlikely targets

Living for the needle: Addict's life a daily, desperate struggle

Prescription pills are East Tennessee's 'new crack'

A year of pills: Drugs leave trail of damage, crime

Summary findings from the News Sentinel investigation into the pill trade

Sometimes it's a corpse — a dealer killed for pills or an addict who chased the last high off the edge of oblivion.

Oxycodone hydrochloride tablets sell at the pharmacy counter under the brand name Roxicodone and offer quick relief from chronic pain for the old, the aching, the crippled and the dying.

Roxies sell on the street for as much as $30 per pill and offer a high that tops crack, heroin or meth — all without the pesky time-release formula that coats Oxycontin, the drug's sister medication.

"It's the epidemic of the day," Knoxville Police Chief David Rausch said. "Everything is attached to it now. Our investigators will tell you that 90 percent of the folks we see who've committed a crime say it's to get their medicine. That's what they call it — medicine.

"The days of the crack dealer on the corner are slowly waning. It's become the medicine dealer on the street."

Drugs of choice

Three people died last year in South Knox County when two men broke into a former police officer's house to steal legally prescribed painkillers. Police say a North Knoxville man's stepson beat him and his wife to death in August to steal pain pills, then burned down the house to cover up the crime.

A rash of drugstore robberies last fall and winter set a local record. Semiannual drug roundups keep rural jails packed and court dockets clogged.

Officers on the beat report dealing with addicts desperate to avoid jail and the agonies of withdrawal. Sometimes they run. Sometimes they fight.

"We're out here beating the bushes today, and in a few months we'll be out here again doing the same thing," said Capt. David Honeycutt, chief investigator for the Claiborne County Sheriff's Office, as he headed out with a stack of indictments in another drug roundup. "Pills have changed the face of law enforcement. It used to be pot, maybe Valium. Now it's pain pills, and they're crazy as hell on them. You'd be hard-pressed to find a family that's not been hurt by these drugs."

Tennessee topped the nation last year in busts of methamphetamine labs, where addicts churn out toxic waste breaking down cold and sinus pills to produce a homemade stimulant. Meth hasn't gone away, but police say they spend more time and money now fighting to keep the cap on the prescription bottle.

"People are afraid of meth, because everybody doesn't do meth," Newport Police Chief Maurice Shults said. "Everybody doesn't do crack. But everybody's on pills of some kind. Pills come from a doctor. People see that as safe. A doctor gives them out, so they've got to be good."

From Oxy to Roxies

Purdue Pharma's Oxycontin tablets once stood as the gold standard for opiate abusers, with concentrated doses of up to 80 mg of oxycodone locked inside a time-release formula easy to crack. Addicts crushed the pills to powder, then snorted or injected them to turn 12 hours of pain relief into an instant high.

That golden egg gained an extra shell when Purdue introduced a new formula last year meant to cut down on abuse. The second-generation Oxys come wrapped in a sticky gelcap coating that burns nostrils and resists the needle.

Some addicts claim to have found ways to beat the coating. Most don't bother.

Roxicodone and its generic equivalents deliver smaller doses of the same drug to treat the short, sharp bursts of breakthrough pain that plague cancer patients and others between round-the-clock doses of painkillers like Oxy. The pills come in 15 mg and 30 mg strength with no gelcap and no time-release coating, ready to deliver instant relief — or an instant high.

"There's no preparation," said Officer Phil Jinks of the Knoxville Police Department's Repeat Offender Squad. "It's straight out of the bottle."

The easy access and potential for profit have caught on among young and old.

"We're dealing with kids in high school, and we've got people retirement age selling," KCSO Sgt. Chris Bryant said. "Pills are easy to get for kids. We've given several drug education classes to teachers, and the first question is always, 'What are those little blue pills we keep seeing?' Those are Roxies."

Some officials expect the problem will only get worse. Opana, a time-release form of oxymorphone introduced five years ago, and fentanyl, a painkiller 100 times more powerful than morphine, offer a stronger high than the old Oxycontin with an even greater potential for overdosing.

Meanwhile, addicts keep working on ways to crack the new Oxys.

"Any time there's a chemical change, there's somebody out there who can alter the effects of that change," Hamblen County Sheriff Esco Jarnagin said. "I don't think you can stop these people from doing what they're doing. The only thing you can do is try to slow them down."

Addiction's Brain Abnormalities Can Be Reversed

 

 

Researchers from the University of Minho in Portugal have discovered that rats exposed before birth to glucocorticoids (GC) not only show several brain abnormalities similar to those found in addicts, but become themselves susceptible to addiction (the glucorticoids, which are stress hormones, were used to mimic pre-natal stress).  But even more remarkable, Ana João Rodrigues, Nuno Sousa and colleagues were able to reverse all the abnormalities  (including the addictive behavior) by giving the animals dopamine (a neurotransmitter/ brain chemical).  The study has several implications – for a start it alerts for the dangers of high levels of stress during pregnancy, but - since GC are often prescribed as an anti-inflammatory or to help organ maturation during pregnancy - it also calls for an urgent investigation on the effects of this drug in pregnant women. But it is what we learn about addiction that is most interesting - the work not only unveils stress as a new susceptibility factor for the disease, but  also a very simple treatment that, if translated into humans, could one day mean an effective treatment, and maybe even the prevention of human addiction.  Drug addiction was for a long time a character flaw, a moral problem. Now, instead,  is accepted as the complex brain disease that is with the addict a patient in need of treatment. After all many people try drugs, but only a few become addicts And it is in these few that lays the key to the disease and its treatment. So what do we know about these patients and the disease? First although the psychological and social contexts in which the drug is taken are important,  as much as 50% of the compulsion is in the  individual’s genetic makeup. We know that addiction is linked to the mesolimbic system - the brain area that evolved to provide feelings of pleasure to actions that increase our survival chances, such as eat, sex and social stimulation. In fact, drugs activate the mesolimbic circuit too, only far stronger than any physiologic stimulus.  This leads to the production of very high quantities of dopamine – the brain chemical linked to pleasure – creating the euphoria that brings users back. After while, though, the brain no longer can cope with the constant ” high” and adapts by becoming desensitised to dopamine (produced by any type of stimulus) what leads users to consume more in order to “feel” again and trapping those more susceptible in addiction. And with the brain changes induced by drugs being apparently long-lasting - since both cravings and relapses don’t disappear with time – it is not easy to escape once trapped. Adding another piece to the puzzle, recently the disease was also linked to stress during crucial developmental periods, such as feotal life. In fact, high levels of prenatal stress increase propensity to mental problems and now have been suggested also to substance abuse, with the effects being mediated by glucocorticoids (GC).    Normal 0 false false false EN-GB X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Rodrigues and Sousa’s group have a long history of interest in stress and have seen before that  rats from mothers injected with GC while pregnant (mimicking pre-natal stress) show changes in their mesolimbic area and in the dopamine response. So in the study now published, following these results and the addiction-stress link, the researchers investigated the responses to drugs in rats exposed to GC while in the uterus. These rats were found to have a susceptibility to addiction not present in control (non-exposed) rats. When their mesolimbic system was examined they also showed several structural and molecular abnormalities,  including less dopamine. The levels of their dopamine receptor Drd2, despite initially being very high, once they experimented drugs, went to abnormally low levels . So why is this important? Because reduced dopamine and Drd2 levels are typical of addicts suggesting that stress and long-term exposure to drugs affect the brain in very similar ways what could explain why the first could lead to the second.  Normal 0 false false false EN-GB X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 The good news is that low levels of dopamine can be treated so Rodrigues and colleagues restored the rats’ dopamine levels to normal just to find,much to their surprise, that all the structural and molecular abnormalities induced by prenatal GC were reversed. Even more surprising, the addictive behavior also disappeared. Normal 0 false false false EN-GB X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 As Ana João Rodrigues explains, “This is a remarkable result because it suggests that with a relatively simple pharmacological approach- restoration of dopamine levels- we can eventually treat, and even more importantly, potentially prevent drug abuse in vulnerable individuals. Of course that we still have a long way to go but our results are quite promising. In fact, if we know where susceptibility to substance abuse lies – and low dopamine and altered Drd2 response seems to be it - then maybe we can find better ways to prevent/treat this disorder. “ Restoring dopamine levels has been used to treat cocaine cravings but the few trials looking at its effect on addiction were never very clear. One possible reason might be the length or the dosages used – in Rodrigues’ study, rats treated for 3 days reverted back to an addictive behavior 3 weeks after the end of the treatment,  but this no longer occurs if the treatment continues for 3 weeks Now it will be necessary to test this new theory in humans what could be problematic with addicts as they are notoriously not the most cooperative or reliable research subjects. Large human studies on the effect of prenatal stress are also difficult to mount but there are a couple of them being run at the moment that could be tagged into such as “Project Ice Storm” in Canada.This study is following women pregnant n January 98 in southern Québec during an extreme ice storm that led to electrical power failures affecting more than 3 million people for as much as 6 weeks during the coldest month of the year(when temperatures can go to -18 C).  It is still early for any studies on addiction(the children are only 13 years old after all) but it will be an interesting place to look, especially since abnormal levels of behavioral and cognitive problems have already been detected by scientists. Drug abuse and addiction carry enormous social and financial costs to society, families and individuals.Only in the US, the National Institute for Drug Abuse calculates that more than600 billion dollars are being spent, annually, to combat the disease. Despite this,a steady increase of drug use among teenagers and in prescription drugs continues with treatments remaining as inefficient as ever.  Rodrigues and Sousa’s work might be the first step towards a solution if their remarkable results can be translated into humans.

UC Berkeley researchers pinpoint areas of brain linked with addiction

 

Researchers at UC Berkeley have determined the specific areas of the brain that value and interpret decisions, which they hope may lead to new treatments for individuals who struggle with addiction. By measuring the neural activity of macaque monkeys, researchers were able to pinpoint the two specific ways the brain makes decisions, which they explained in a study published Sunday in the journal Nature Neuroscience. They now understand that neural activity in the brain’s orbitofrontal cortex determines the value of decisions, while neural activity in the anterior cingulate cortex evaluates the difference between expectations and results, which is responsible for future behavior. “The brain is basically a computer, and the neuron is taking information and then giving information that they’ve calculated,” said Jonathan Wallis, associate professor of psychology at UC Berkeley and the principal investigator of the study. “This is the first time we’ve been able to show the specific computation to decision-making in specific areas of the brain. That was really the novelty.” While previous research has determined that these sections of the brain are dysfunctional in addicts, the new research explains how the damage leads to addiction. If these parts of the frontal cortex are impaired, addicts lack the signals that provide them with accurate information about how valuable a choice is, making it less likely that they will learn the consequences of their actions, according to Wallis. “If you’re an addict and this area is impaired, you may not realize your goals, and you potentially are not going to learn from unhealthy decisions,” Wallis said. Wallis and his team conducted the research by testing the neural activity of macaque monkeys as they played games that gauged their ability to make decisions. Researchers could measure the calculations that the monkeys were making in the different areas of the brain, which mimicked the way that humans make decisions. The researchers completed the experiment in 2006 and have spent the last five years analyzing the data. Although still a few steps in the future, the ultimate goal of the study is to use the results to treat for individuals with addictions. “Besides therapy, there is nothing we can do for someone that is severely addicted,” Wallis said. “So far no surgical or pharmaceutical treatments exist. By figuring out what is going on when healthy people are making decisions, we can figure out what is going wrong when addicts make bad decisions and find some ways to target these specific areas of the brain.” While the study has led to a greater understanding of how the brain values decisions, researchers will still need to further investigate how addictive drugs are valued in order to develop more effective treatments, according to Howard Fields, professor of neurology and director of the Wheeler Center for the Neurobiology of Addiction at UC San Francisco. “This is a new and important scientific advance,” Fields said. “It is likely that addiction involves dysfunction of the relation between valuation of outcomes and subsequent decision making. In other words, drugs become overvalued compared to other action outcomes. Only by understanding the relation of valuation to action selection will we fully understand how drugs become addictive. After we do that, we’ll be able to develop more effective treatments.”

Boy, 17, shot in back in Poplar, east London

 

teenager has been shot in the back in east London. The 17-year-old boy was wounded in East India Dock Road, Poplar, in the early hours of the morning. A Scotland Yard spokesman said: "A 17-year-old male had a gunshot wound to the back and is in hospital in a serious condition." The attack happened just before 01:00 GMT, police said. Any witnesses to the shooting should call the Metropolitan Police.

Armed guards are to be deployed on British civilian ships for the first time to protect them from pirates,

Armed guards are to be deployed on British civilian ships for the first time to protect them from pirates, David Cameron announced today.

A legal ban on weapon-toting protection staff will be relaxed so that firms can apply for a licence to have them on board in danger zones.

The Prime Minister said radical action was required because the increasing ability of sea-borne Somali criminals to hijack and ransom ships had become 'a complete stain on our world'.

He unveiled the measure after talks at a Commonwealth summit in Australia with leaders of countries in the Horn of Africa over the escalating problem faced in waters off their shores.

Under the plans, the Home Secretary will be given the power to license vessels to carry armed security, including automatic weapons, currently prohibited under firearms laws.

Officials said around 200 ships were expected to be in line to take up the offer, which would only apply for voyages through particular waters in the affected region.

It is expected to be used by commercial firms, rather than private sailors such as hostage victims Paul and Rachel Chandler.

Pirates: There are around 50 ships currently being held hostage

 

Asked if he was comfortable with giving private security operatives the right to 'shoot to kill' if necessary, Mr Cameron told BBC1's Andrew Marr Show: 'We have to make choices.

'Frankly the extent of the hijack and ransom of ships round the Horn of Africa is a complete stain on our world.

'The fact that a bunch of pirates in Somalia are managing to hold to ransom the rest of the world and our trading system is a complete insult and the rest of the world needs to come together with much more vigour.

 

Drug That Killed Michael Jackson "Was Self-Injected"

 

The jury hear evidence that MJ had also taken a large number of sleeping pills… 08:42, Sunday, 30 October 2011 The last defence witness in the trial of Dr Conrad Murray, Michael Jackson’s personal physician, has told the courtroom that he believed the star was responsible for his own death.   Dr Paul White told jurors that the most likely cause of death was self-injection of a fatal dose of the anesthetic Propofol, after Murray had already administered a small amount. "With the administration of the additional 25 milligrams that we're speculating was self-injected by Mr Jackson, the level increases rapidly and at the time of death would be almost identical to the level found in the urine at autopsy," Dr White said. He revealed that the superstar also appeared to have taken a large dose of sedatives – eight Lorazepam tablets – earlier in the night without Murray’s knowledge. White said that mixing the two drugs would be deadly. "The combination effect is potentially profound." Earlier this week a specialist testified that Michael may have also been addicted to the painkiller Demerol, and was also a regular user of Botox. Murray is charged with involuntary manslaughter into the star’s untimely death in June 2009. The prosecution has already presented four weeks of evidence so it won’t be long before the jurors retire to decide the verdict. Michael’s sister Janet Jackson recently postponed tour dates in Australia in order to be in LA when the verdict is announced. She explained her decision in a statement: "When I planned these shows, the schedule in California was completely different. After talking with my family last night, I decided we must be together right now.”

The Italian ship Montecristo, which was hijacked by Somali pirates before being stormed by British commandos

 Photo: REUTERS

9:45AM GMT 30 Oct 2011

A legal ban on weapon-toting protection staff will be relaxed so that firms can apply for a licence to have them on board in danger zones.

The Prime Minister said radical action was required because the increasing ability of sea-borne Somali criminals to hijack and ransom ships had become "a complete stain on our world".

He unveiled the measure after talks at a Commonwealth summit in Australia with leaders of countries in the Horn of Africa over the escalating problem faced in waters off their shores.

Under the plans, the Home Secretary will be given the power to license vessels to carry armed security, including automatic weapons, currently prohibited under firearms laws.

Officials said around 200 were expected to be in line to take up the offer, which would only apply for voyages through particular waters in the affected region. It is expected to be used by commercial firms rather than private sailors - such as hostage victims Paul and Rachel Chandler.

The Occupy London Stock Exchange protest encampment outside St Paul's Cathedral.

Photograph: Oli Scarff/Getty Images

Christian groups have drawn up plans to protect protesters by forming a ring of prayer around the camp outside St Paul's Cathedral, should an attempt be made to forcibly remove them.

As the storm of controversy over the handling of the Occupy LondonStock Exchange demonstration deepened on Saturday, Christian activists said it was their duty to stand up for peaceful protest in the absence of support from St Paul's. One Christian protester, Tanya Paton, said: "We represent peace, unity and love. A ring of prayer is a wonderful symbol."

With senior officials at St Paul's apparently intent on seeking an injunction to break up the protest, the director of the influential religious thinktank Ekklesia, Jonathan Bartley, said the cathedral's handling of the protest had been a "car crash" and predicted more high-profile resignations from the Church of England.

The canon chancellor of St Paul's, Dr Giles Fraser, and the Rev Fraser Dyer, who works as a chaplain at the cathedral, have already stepped down over the decision to pursue legal action to break up the camp.

Meanwhile, it has emerged that Shami Chakrabarti, director of the human rights group Liberty, is attempting to mediate in the dispute. She said she had contacted the corporation, cathedral and protesters to offer a "neutral space" to sort out the impasse. The corporation had not yet responded, she said, although St Paul's had acknowledged her offer. She said the protesters had been enthusiastic in their desire for dialogue and a peaceful resolution.

"It would have been easy to opt for a line of action that would have led to images of police dragging away protesters, but they want to talk."

 

It was claimed last night that a highly critical report into the moral standards of bankers has been suppressed by St Paul's amid fears it would inflame tensions over the protest. The report, based on a survey of 500 City workers who were asked if they thought they were worth their salaries and bonuses, was due to be published last Thursday.

But publication of the report, by the St Paul's Institute, has been delayed in apparent acknowledgement that it would give the impression the cathedral was on the side of protesters.

Christian groups that have publicly sided with the protesters include one of the oldest Christian charities, the Fellowship of Reconciliation, and the oldest national student organisation, the Student Christian Movement,Christianity Uncut, the Zacchaeus 2000 Trust and the Christian magazineThird Way. In addition, London Catholic Worker, the Society of Sacramental Socialists and Quaker groups have offered their support.

A statement by the groups said: "As Christians, we stand alongside people of all religions who are resisting economic injustice with active nonviolence. The global economic system perpetuates the wealth of the few at the expense of the many. It is based on idolatrous subservience to markets. We cannot worship both God and money."

Bartley said: "There are some very unhappy people within the Church of England. The protesters seem to articulate many of the issues that the church has paid lip-service to. Many people are disillusioned with the position St Paul's has adopted. To evict rather than offer sanctuary is contrary to what many people think the church is all about. The whole thing has been a car crash."

On Saturday afternoon, more than 20 religious figures gathered on the steps of St Paul's to support the occupation, which began two weeks ago.

The bishop of London, the Right Rev Richard Chartres, has promised to attend St Paul's in an attempt to persuade activists to leave. But protesters say they have no intention of packing up, many reiterating their intention to stay at the cathedral until Christmas and beyond.

A spokesman for Occupy London urged the City of London Corporation to open a dialogue with protesters to avoid a lengthy legal battle that could prove expensive for the taxpayer.

Brussels is stifling City of London, Cameron claims

 

David Cameron signalled new European battles ahead as he pledged to resist alleged attempts by Brussels to shackle the City of London in red tape. The Prime Minister echoed claims that the emergence of a two-tier Europe following the financial crisis could result in a wave of EU directives that would harm the Square Mile. The Government has said it is determined to prevent the 17 members of the eurozone acting as a bloc to thwart the interests of the 10 EU states, including Britain, that have retained their own currencies.

Qantas grounds all flights

 

Australia’s Qantas Airways grounded its entire fleet on Saturday over a bitter labour dispute in an unprecedented move that prompted the government to warn it feared for the airline’s future and would seek action to end the dispute. EDITOR’S CHOICE Strikes cost A$15m-a week in lost sales - Oct-28 US airlines earnings hit by fuel costs - Oct-27 Lufthansa scales back passenger forecasts - Oct-27 Virgin eyes tie-up with Etihad on BMI - Oct-14 Qantas overhauls lossmaking international operations - Aug-16 Qantas said it would lock out all employees from Monday night in a dispute affecting 70,000 passengers and 600 flights on one of the country’s biggest travel weekends. The grounding does not affect Qantas’ budget airline Jetstar or code-share flights on other airlines. Passengers will get a full refund for flights cancelled due to the industrial action, Qantas said on its website. Customers can also rebook their flights for a later date. The announcement took passengers and the government by surprise, embarrassing Prime Minister Julia Gillard who was hosting a Commonwealth leaders summit in Perth. Some of those leaders are booked to fly home on Sunday with Qantas. Unions, from pilots to caterers, have taken strike action since September over pay and opposing Qantas plans to cut its soaring costs, as it looks at setting up two new airlines in Asia and cutting back financially draining long-haul flights. “They are trashing our strategy and our brand. They are deliberately destabilising the company. Customers are now fleeing from us,” Qantas Chief Executive Alan Joyce said.

Claus Mogensen 45 years old is a chronic drug addict who lives in Arhus,Denmark.

Clause takes a nap at his room to cool down his system.

ID: 898947

   

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Waking up every day with a craving for a substance which has not only destroyed your life but has also taken away your brother,everyone's trust in you, and puts you in the
same categories as the lowest members of society,ever wondered what is it like?
Claus Mogensen 45 years old is a chronic drug addict who lives in Arhus,Denmark.He is noticeably shaking and restless as he sits down on the mattress in the
small, dirty living room.The surroundings seem to lack everything, as if all the valuables and appliances that once sat in this small, deteriorating room has been used to barter for
more drugs.Claus goes to his empty fridge and removes three small bottles of Methadone dosage prescribed by his doctor which he has to take everyday.
Methadone is a narcotic pain reliever, similar to Morphine. It reduces withdrawal symptoms in people addicted to heroin or other narcotic drugs without causing the "high"
associated with the drug addiction.Clauses older brother was on heroin and died six years ago due to overdose. "That shocked the sense out of me,but i haven`t been able to stop using it"says Claus.
I remember smoking tobacco when i was 14 and was given cigarettes by my friend.During lunch hour at school we used to sneak out to smoke. I continued smoking until i was 18 years old then I started using Marijuana."I did not feel high i wondered why people smoke it" he says.
I smoked it because my friends used it,peer pressure you could call it. His school grades started dropping down because he lost concentration in class due to excess of marijuana.He then dropped out of school and never continued with his secondary education.At the age of 19, during a new year party there were people taking cocaine and some of my friends talked me into trying some.I remember feeling so warm and secure.At this point Claus would do just a little bit of it at a time to make the feeling and the supply last as long as possible.I started out doing it only on the weekends.

Then it wasn’t long afterwards, he started buying for his own. Soon he was doing it every weekend. It became the main focus of all his activities.I liked traveling a lot and everywhere I went with my friends we wanted to have cocaine.It made the experience a lot more fun and enjoyable.Other friends we met really appreciated us having some really good stuff and it made me feel like I was important and gave me a powerful sense of control.
He takes a one minute nap while seated at a chair during the conversation and immediately wakes up and apologizes.

He used cocaine for some years before his taste in drugs turned to heroin.At the age of 24 he became addicted to it.On the 6th December 1989 he was admitted at a psychiatric
hospital for mental disorder because of excessive usage of heroin. "I dont know what happened but i became dependant on it and i kept using more" he says.
Claus has been in and out of the psychiatric hospital for many years.The treatment did not only work on his mental health but also his love life,in 2004 while at the hospital he fell in love with 55 years Lene who was also undergoing treatment on mental disorder at the time. They both fell for each other and have been together for six years now. "I used to feel rejected and lonely but after meeting her ,it made me feel appreciated and loved despite the fact that i have my addiction,"he says.
Both live apart and don`t have kids.

He admits that he cannot perform any job without a dose of Cocaine fuelling his system and that does not come cheaply since one dose of the kill-me-slowly powder costs
DKK180. “Drugs have definitely become part of my body system and I cannot do without. I don’t even fear the police or dread contracting diseases any more,” he says.
In February this year Denmark opened its first clinic equipped to distribute free heroin under medical supervision to people heavily addicted to the drug.The clinic is set to serve
only 120 of some 300 hard-core heroin addicts.The objective is not to cure heroin addicts, but to help those who are not satisfied by Methadone by providing them with clean
heroin, allowing them to avoid disease and the temptation of criminal acts to obtain the drug.
Clause is one of the beneficiaries.He receives his doses everyday and he prefers methadone to injecting himself but still he sniffs cocaine. He receives DKK 13,000 per month
from the government for his upkeep which mostly he uses to buy cocaine. Each cocaine addict needs roughly DKK 300 a day to satisfy his or her crave. This amounts to DKK 109,500 Thousand per year to spent on cocaine alone.

According to the 2009 report on the drug situation in Denmark prepared by the National Board of Health, the Danish “Focal Point”,there are an estimated 13,000 intravenous drug users in Denmark.It also states that In 2008, more than half (61%) of the young population aged between 18 and 24 years was admitted to treatment for cannabis use as their primary drug, whereas 17%, 6% and 2%, respectively, of the young population were admitted to treatment for use of amphetamine, cocaine and ecstasy as their primary drug. Globally, United Nation Office On Drug and Crime estimates that between 155 and 250 million people, or 3.5% to 5.7% of the population aged 15-64, had used illicit substances at least once in the previous year. Cannabis users comprise the largest number of illicit drug users(129-190 million people). Amphetamine-type stimulants are the second most commonly used illicit drugs, followed by opiates and cocaine. However, in terms of harm associated with use, opiates(Heroin, Morphine)
would be ranked at the top.

Deadly Drug Overdose Leads to Pill-Pushing Doctor

 

Montgomery County doctor and his son surrendered to police Thursday morning after investigators discovered that they were supplying known drug addicts with large supplies of narcotics, according to authorities. At least one person died of an overdose on Dr. Richard Ruth's drugs, police say. Ruth, of Souderton, was performing insincere medical exams for drug seekers and then providing them with prescription drugs that often ended up being sold in large quantities on the street, police say. Ruth has been running this drug operation for years, authorities say. The lengthy police investigation into Ruth's alleged crimes was called "Operation Pill Pusher." "We know that this community has been plagued by prescription drug abuse and overdoses and this was the go-to guy in the community," said District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman. Ruth’s son, Michael Ruth, was his medical assistant. "For them to come in and say he’s unlawfully doing things is just an atrocity," a teary-eyed Michael told NBC Philadelphia’s Denise Nakano. Michael also faces charges in the drug scheme that involved charging patients for the narcotic prescriptions and insurance companies for the bogus office visits, police say. Police were tipped off to Dr. Ruth’s drug dealing scheme when sources told them last September that they were able to obtain large amounts of oxycodone from the doctor. In addition to providing drugs to people who dealt them on the street, Dr. Ruth ignored pleas from family members of the drug-addicted patients who asked him to stop prescribing drugs like Percocet and Oxycodone, police say. Dr. Ruth was charged with more than 40 counts of fraud, knowingly prescribing to drug addicts, prescription fraud, and conspiracy, among others. His son Michael was charged with similar crimes.