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The Christian Science Monitor has an article on the new mexican President’s efforts to control drug cartels and public corruption in order to make Mexico a more appealing place to live.

“The Senate takes up “comprehensive” immigration reform again this week. But the meat’s still missing in this burrito. As Mexico’s ambassador to Washington warns, even the “rosiest, peachiest” reform in the US won’t end the flow of poor migrants. Reform must also take place in Mexico. ”

“And begun it has. ”

“For the past seven months, Mexico has been at war with itself, literally. A new president, Felipe Calderón, has dispatched 24,000 troops into battle with the most corrosive influence in Mexico’s economy: powerful drug cartels. ”

“These violent syndicates, which mainly transport drugs into the US, have exploded in the past decade. They’ve escalated crime and political corruption, hindering creation of well-paying jobs for would-be migrants. At election time, they provide cash for many campaigns.” . . .

According to the State of New Mexico, US Airways has failed to initiate a safe drinking program on its flights to New Mexico as required by state law. US Ariways has also been cited in two cases; in once of which a passenger had to much to drink on a US Airways flight last November, got in a car and killed himself and five other people. The article can be found in The Arizona Republic.

The Globe and Mail is carrying a story on alcohol and rhematoid arthritis: “More good news for drinkers –regularly drinking may halve the risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis, scientists say.

New research presented at the annual European Congress of Rheumatology on Friday indicated that drinking at least three units of alcohol a week had clear protective effects and that 10 units brought more protection still.

One unit is roughly equivalent to a glass of wine or a small beer.

Previous studies have indicated that alcohol may also have a beneficial role in heart disease, stroke, some forms of cancer and perhaps Alzheimer’s.

Henrik Kallberg of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm said his research showed consuming three or more units was associated with a 50-per-cent drop in the risk in developing rheumatoid arthritis.” . . .

You might want to think about alternatives, such as Rose Hips. The BBC Health Desk offers an alternative: “Rose-hip ‘remedy’ for arthritis”.

$49 - $67k per MONTH? For drug and alcohol rehab?!

The New York Times takes a look: “GOSSIP columns noted breathlessly this month that Lindsay Lohan, cocooned in high-class rehab in Malibu after crashing her Mercedes on Sunset Boulevard, had stepped off the premises to go to the gym. ”

“Was she breaking the rules? Were the rules bent to suit her? Either way, the idea that she might soon win her battle with substance abuse seemed, given the evidence, unduly optimistic. Not yet 21, she is halfway through a second stint in rehab.”

“But optimism, it turns out, is one of the main things offered at rehabilitation centers like Promises, the luxurious Malibu retreat for patients suffering from alcohol and substance abuse where Ms. Lohan now lives. ”

“Much harder to come by is evidence that these programs work. The quiet truth in the upper-crust rehabilitation industry is that $49,000 a month may buy lots of things — including views of the Pacific, massage therapy and blue-ribbon chefs. But whether it buys sobriety is very uncertain.”

The Times Argus editorializes: “For years, the United States has been waging a war on drugs, but the war is not being won and in fact, it isn’t even showing much progress. Also, it can’t grab eye-catching headlines because there are two other issues – the war on terror and illegal immigration — that for now command more immediate attention.”

“If there’s a path to success in the war on drugs, politicians and the police will surely have their roles to play. But the solution must also involve a dramatic change of behavior by the drug users among us. As long as there are consumers willing to wink at the law and provide a robust market for the drug dealers, terrible things will continue to happen. Those who blithely purchase and use illegal narcotics must be made aware of the indirect consequences of their acts and accept some personal responsibility for the widespread violence of the drug trade.” . . .

The San Francisco Chronicle reports that “in 1999, Washington launched “Plan Colombia,” with the promise that the anti-drug program would halve Colombian cocaine production. ”

“The law of unintended consequences rules in this drug war. Plan Colombia has not delivered. ”

“U.S. crop dusters have sprayed an area the size of Delaware and Rhode Island. U.S. taxpayers have forked over some $4.7 billion. Yet cocaine is abundant and cheap on the streets of America. As Ken Dermota wrote in the July/August issue of the Atlantic, the price of a gram of cocaine in Los Angeles fell from $50 to $100 per gram in 1999 to $30-$50 in 2005. Prices are down in New York, Seattle and Atlanta. White House Drug Czar John Walters recently admitted that street cocaine prices fell by 11 percent from February 2005 to October 2006. ”

“Demand isn’t the issue. Demand remains steady. Supply is the issue: Growers produce far more cocaine than the world consumes.” . . .

The Daily Mail reports that “a tobacco-based gel designed to beat the smoking ban is sparking controversy among health campaigners. ”

“NicoFix, which can be bought online and in a handful of shops in Britain, is billed as an alternative to smoking rather than a way of giving up. ”

“Smokers can get their fix by rubbing a portion of the gel, which contains one tenth of the tobacco in a cigarette, into their palms. ”

“Stocks of NicoFix have been rushed into shops, including Harrods and Selfridges, in time for the ban on smoking coming into force in England on July 1.” . . .

The BBC reports that “residents of Hinton, New South Wales, were stranded following the severe storms that hit the region on Sunday. There was concern that their pub would run dry before a rugby league match which was due to be played between New South Wales and Queensland. But the State Emergency Services boated in a huge beer delivery just in time.” . . .

The Kuwait Times has an article entitled: “Kuwait forces irate over US criminals”. The article goes on to say, “Kuwait security forces are irate with the favoritism American expatriates caught violating the laws of Kuwait receive. According to an article in the local Arabic daily, Al-Qabas, unnamed sources claim that Americans arrested for alcohol and drug-related crimes are receiving special treatment.” . . .

In an article entitled “Drugs, alcohol found in course of 7,741 autopsies” the Ocala Star-Banner reports on what people were using as they passed on. Heroin turns out to be declining in this “use survey”, but still has the highest cause of death percentage — 81 percent of people found to have heroin in their systems at death died as a result of that heroin use.