SoberDreams.com

Congress has greatly reduced the funding for drug courts. Drug courts provide a VERY useful alternative to incarceration for people convicted of minor drug offenses that could result in long prison sentences.

Quoting the National Association of Drug Court Professionals (NADCP), 4900 Seminary Road, Suite 320, Alexandria, VA 22311 www.nadcp.org "Despite our triumphs this past year, despite the U.S. General Accounting Office releasing a report earlier this year supporting the effectiveness of drug courts, despite our mounds of research on the effectiveness of the drug court approach, the Congress has decided to slash the Drug Court Discretionary Grant Program to $10 million. Many programs have been reduced to assist in the hurricane relief efforts. However, the drug court appropriation is lower than anticipated."

The information can be found here rather far down the page.

The NADCP is asking you to contact your US congress critters to request restoration of their budget.

Another downside to passive smoking — the BBC offers the following: "Passive smoking increases the risk of one of the most common causes of blindness, a study has found. A Cambridge University team looked at the impact of smoking on age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the British Journal of Ophthalmology reported. Living with a smoker for five years doubled the risk of the disease and regular smoking tripled it, they found. Campaigners said it highlighted the need for an outright ban on smoking in enclosed public places and workplaces."

In an attempt to provide more marijuana for medical research purposes The Washington Post reports: "For decades, the federal government has been the nation’s only legal producer of marijuana for medical research. Working with growers at the University of Mississippi, the National Institute on Drug Abuse has controlled both the quality and distribution of the drug for the past 36 years. But for the first time the government’s monopoly on research marijuana is under serious legal challenge. The effort is being spearheaded by a group that wants to produce medicines from currently illegal psychedelic drugs and by a professor at the University of Massachusetts who has agreed to grow marijuana for the group if the government lets him."

The Billings Gazette has an article on employment at Scotts/Miracle Gros: "The company that makes Scotts and Miracle Gro lawn and garden products is requiring its employees to quit smoking if they want to keep their jobs, the Associated Press reported Dec. 10. Officials at Scotts Miracle-Gro Co., of Marysville, Ohio, say they see the smoking policy and a new, $5-million fitness and medical facility as a way to cut down on health-insurance costs. “Why would we admit someone into this environment when they’re passing risk along to everyone else? Our view is we shouldn’t and we won’t,” said company chairman and CEO James Hagedorn. The company can legally fire smokers in 21 states. “We’re being as aggressive as the law will allow us, to keep our costs under control,” Hagedorn said."

Health Day News has a headline: "Parents Can Sway Teens’ Attitudes on Drugs"

The report continues: "Tolerance for illicit drugs by parents raises kids’ risks, study finds. Peer pressure isn’t the only major factor influencing whether teens use drugs. Parents also play an important role, a new study finds. “Much of the previous research in this area shows that adolescents make their decisions about drugs based on influence from their friends. But those studies neglect the notion we found here, that some of the family characteristics help determine who teens associated with,” study lead author Stephen Bahr, a professor of sociology at Brigham Young University, explained in a prepared statement. “We also found that some steps taken by parents had a direct effect on lowering drug abuse, even in the face of peer influences,” he said."

Stars and Stripes: "Army researchers saw alcohol misuse rise from 13 percent among soldiers to 21 percent one year after returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, underscoring the continuing stress of deployment for some troops. In post-deployment reassessment data completed in July, researchers also saw soldiers with anger and aggression issues increase from 11 percent to 22 percent after deployment. Those planning to divorce their spouse rose from 9 percent to 15 percent after time spent in the combat zone. And that’s just the start of the problems, according to military family support groups."

The San Francisco Chronicle reports: "A U.S. government report to be released next week raises serious questions about the effectiveness of the multibillion-dollar U.S. anti-drug campaign in Colombia, despite moves by the Bush administration to extend the program. The 52-page report by the Government Accountability Office, an advance copy of which has been obtained by The Chronicle, challenges administration conclusions that the drug interdiction effort known as Plan Colombia — a five-year program that ends this year — has reduced the amount of cocaine available in the United States. The report was skeptical of the statistics the government relied on for its upbeat assessments, calling its information on cocaine production and use problematic. It also said the Office of National Drug Control Policy had failed to fully address previous “recommendations for improving illicit drug data collection and analysis.” "

Join Together reports: " Adolescents who were heavy users of marijuana exhibited changes in their brain similar to those found in schizophrenics, Newsday reported Nov. 30."

"Researchers at North Shore University Hospital-Long Island Jewish (LIJ) Healthcare System conducted brain scans on male teenagers who were daily, long-term users of marijuana, as well as adolescent schizophrenia patients who did and did not use marijuana. They found that a region of the brain called the arcuate nucleus — which plays a role in higher cognitive function — was atrophied in both the marijuana users and those with schizophrenia. However, the marijuana smokers were underdeveloped only on the left side of the brain, whereas the schizophrenics had atrophy on both sides of their brains."

"The study may lend credence to the theory that drug use could trigger schizophrenia. “If there are people who are vulnerable and smoke marijuana, they may be putting themselves at greater risk for developing severe mental illness,” said researcher Manzar Ashtari of LIJ’s Zucker Hillside Hospital. “Whatever insult is happening, it is taking place in brain regions still under construction,” she added, warning teens: “Don’t put yourself at risk, especially if you have a family history of schizophrenia or severe mental illness — especially when the brain is still growing.”"

The research was presented at the Radiological Society of North America’s annual meeting in Chicago.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest reports: "Seventy-one percent of Americans support a five cent per drink increase in federal alcohol taxes, according to new survey research commissioned by the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI). As lawmakers consider slashing popular social programs to bridge the federal budget gap, CSPI says they should instead consider raising taxes on beer, wine, and spirits—which could raise more than $20 billion in desperately needed revenue over the next five years."

"When asked whether they prefer raising alcohol taxes or cutting social programs as a way of offsetting the budget deficit, a whopping 79 percent of respondents favor the alcohol tax increase. Even 68 percent of Republicans surveyed and 70 percent of drinkers would support raising alcohol taxes over cutting programs such as food stamps, Medicaid, and drug benefits for the elderly. "

Help the federal government stop running on funny money… .

The BBC reports "The World Health Organization has said it will no longer recruit people who smoke or otherwise use tobacco. The ban, which came into effect on Thursday, applies to any applicants who smoke and say they would continue to smoke, either daily or occasionally. Tobacco chewers and those who use snuff tobacco are also affected. The WHO said the decision was based on its position at the helm of the global campaign against smoking. Existing staff will be encouraged to quit. The UN agency, which is based in Geneva, Switzerland, employs some 2,400 people. "