Note On Peter Jennings Report

A commentor sent me a link to the Peter Jennings report on Ecstasy from a year or so back.  I’m sorry; it does not meet the comment policy of The Drug Report:  “I welcome comments of most kinds, but will not post comments that include wrong or dangerous information.”

Even Howard Stern ridiculed that program, calling it “a one hour advertisement for Ecstasy.”

Ecstasy … the Love Drug?!

Ecstasy’s reputation of making people feel all lovey-dovey sometimes is proven wrong, very wrong:

Prosecutors said Monday they will seek the death penalty against a transient accused of decapitating a 91-year-old retired screenwriter and stabbing his neighbor to death.  …Special circumstance allegations of multiple murders and murder during torture and burglary were included in the case.

Keven Lee Graff, 29, is accused of killing former screenwriter Robert Lees at his Hollywood home in June 2004. …

Police said that after the killing, Graff took the man’s severed head, climbed a fence and stabbed to death Dr. Morley Hal Engelson, 69.Graff, a former Marine, was living in his pickup truck and on the streets in Hollywood before his arrest one day after the deaths, authorities said.

Graff told the Daily News of Los Angeles that he was high on methamphetamine and ecstasy at the time of the slayings and doesn’t remember anything about that night.

“If I really did this, man, I just want to say I’m sorry,” he said.

Unbelievable.  Any of you pro-drug people want to defend this guy?

Born Stoned

Troubling news out of Scotland, from the Scottish Daily Record and Mail:

MORE than one in eight Scots babies are born with illegal drugs in their systems.The horrific news was revealed in a study yesterday.

It indicates that as many as 7000 of the 54,000 children born each year in Scotland are drug affected.

The most common drug found was cannabis – but heroin, cocaine and ecstasy traces were also discovered. Experts say the research highlights how mums-to-be are putting their children’s lives in danger by continuing to take the drugs while pregnant.

Children born to drug users stand a higher risk of being stillborn, premature or victims of cot death.

They can also go on to develop health problems such as lung illness and learning difficulties.

A study of more than 400 births at a Glasgow hospital found 71 newborns with drugs in their bodies.

Tests showed traces of cannabis in 53 babies – more than 13 per cent.  Cocaine was found in 11 cases and amphetamines in seven.

Of course, lots of morphine type drugs also were found, but researchers had no way of differentiating whether it came from illicit drug use or hospital-prescribed painkillers.

Don’t Sell Drugs In Indonesia … Or China

Whether it’s the love of money or the irrationality of drug-addled minds, people continue to deal drugs in Indonesia:

Indonesia to execute 16 drug offenders, including 10 foreigners

 Indonesian authorities are preparing to execute 16 people, including 10 foreigners from Africa and Asia, who are on death row for drug trafficking, an official said Wednesday.

“The prosecutors’ office has already made preparation for the execution of 16 people on the death row for drug trafficking,” said an official at the attorney general’s office.

She cited Attorney General Spokesman I Wayan Pasek as saying that the 16 convicts were all sentenced to death for drug trafficking and had exhausted every legal avenue of appeal.

Pasek’s comment came after the head of the country’s National Anti-drug Agency, I Made Mangku Pastika, on Sunday called for prosecutors to expedite the executions of key drug traffickers.

The 16 include seven Nigerians, one each from Nepal, Malawi and Thailand, and six Indonesians, the official said. There were three women among them, two from Indonesia and one from Thailand.

Another 27 death-row drug convicts are still in the process of appealing their verdicts.

Meanwhile,  China has executed at least 27 people for drug trafficking and sentenced up to 12 others to death for the same offence to mark international anti-drug day on June 26, state press reported Tuesday. (Both stories from Agence France Presse)

Brimble Drug Rape And Death Update

If you’re not following the Australian press, you’re probably unaware of the death of Dianne Brimble on a P&O cruise ship — after she was apparently drugged with GHB and raped by any number of eight men who are implicated in her death.

Pity her poor family.  The story appears to be growing to O.J. Simpson or Scott Peterson size, dragging her children through a protracted hell.

My original post on the story provides background.  Here are some links to some more recent stories from the almost 2000 listed at Ask.com:

Brimble ‘would never do drugs’

Passenger heard Brimble’s protest in next cabin

Disturbing evidence at Brimble inquiry

And this, which gives us what may have been Dianne Brimble’s last, pleading words:  Brimble men told:  I’m not like that.

Wyoming Sees More Child Deaths

Officials in Wyoming are puzzled by a recent increase in deaths of children and teens, and at least one state official says the increase may be the result of meth use in the state.  From AP:

A national report on child well-being showed a significant increase in the number of child deaths in Wyoming, placing the state next to last in that category.

Using data from 2003, the annual Kids Count report showed Wyoming with 37 deaths for every 100,000 children between the ages of 1 and 14, up from 27 deaths per 100,000 in 2000. Infant and teen deaths are counted separately. …

Marilyn Patton, administrator of protective services for the Wyoming Department of Family Services, said the state’s growing methamphetamine problem may also be contributing to the rise in child deaths.

“The abuse deaths in recent years, over 50 percent of them have been related to meth use by their parents,” Patton said.

Think about that for a moment.  Over half the kids in Wyoming who are killed by abusive parents live in meth-using households.  Add in what’s probably another high number — kids killed by alcohol-abusing parents — and you’re looking at some very troubling impacts of drugs on our society.

Arrest in Heroin-Fentanyl Case

There has been an arrest in the terrible Midwest heroin/fentanyl case, in which some 200 heroin users have died.  From the Alliance (OH) Review:

A man suspected as a key player in the supply of a lethal form of heroin blamed for more than 100 deaths [close to 200 deaths in all] in the Detroit area was arraigned Saturday on drug possession and weapons charges, officials said.

Wayne County sheriff's deputies and federal drug agents said Daren Reese was arrested Thursday in the sale of a mix of heroin and the prescription painkiller fentanyl.

Reese, 45, of Detroit, faces charges including four counts of delivering and manufacturing a controlled substance, and two felony weapons charges for carrying a firearm and body armor. He was being held in the Wayne County Jail on $200,000 bond.

The article doesn't mention fentanyl, so expect some additional charges before too long.

“Promise Thrown Away”

In early June, parents who had lost their children to drugs gathered in Washington DC for a candlelight vigil to honor their children … and warn others.

The Washington Post ran an article on the vigil, which you can read here.  Unfortunately, the article focuses exclusively on cocaine.

Parents at the Vigil had many more stories to tell: Kids who died from ecstasy and GHB, from prescription drugs and over the counter cold medicines, from meth.  It's too bad the Post didn't report the whole story.

Another Drugged Driving Case

Here's yet another case of drugs, impaired driving and death; from Birmingham England:

A motorist who killed a passenger while "showing off" in his car just four months after getting his licence back has been jailed for five years.Emily Samuels, who was not wearing a seat belt, died from multiple injuries after being flung from the back seat of Thomas Bushby's car and landing in a hedge.

Bushby, who had only received his licence back after a previous ban for dangerous driving, pleaded guilty at Warwick Crown Court yesterday to causing 24-year-old Emily's death by dangerous driving.

Bushby (20), of Stable Yard, Ban-bury, was jailed and banned from driving for six years.

Louise Pierpoint, prosecuting, said that on March 25 Bushby went to Emily's home in Brooke Close, Stratford, where he was going to stay after they had been to a party.

A later blood sample showed he had consumed alcohol and would have been over the legal limit at the time of the crash, as well as cannabis and ecstasy, the combination of which had impaired his driving ability, according to a doctor.

One of my regular pro-drug readers recently sent me a comment — which I didn't post — questioning me for saying drugs caused deaths like this. 

If I still had the comment, I'd copy it here because I don't want to misrepresent his point, but as I recall, he said lots of things cause car accidents and to blame them on drugs or ecstasy is wrong.  In this story, he would also blame the dead passenger for not fastening her seatbelt.

Anything but blame the drugs.

But the driver had alcohol, marijuana and ecstasy in his system.  He might have showed off even without them.  He might even have lost control and crashed.

But his chances of doing both — and especially the latter — increase with drug use.  That's common knowledge, and he chose to ignore common knowledge, so now a girl's dead and he's in big trouble.

Someone will probably write me now saying we should ban ice because it causes accidents.  Terrible how drugs muddle the brain, eh?

Meth Death Mistrial: Now What?

The jury in the Amy Leanne Prien case deadlocked 6-6 on whether the meth-addicted mom murdered her toddler with meth-laced breastmilk.

Courtesy of AP, here's the story from Riverside CA:

Prosecutors will decide whether to retry a woman accused of killing her baby by nursing with methamphetamine-laced breast milk after a jury deadlocked on murder charges and a judge declared a mistrial.The jury stalemated 6-6 Thursday in the murder case against Amy Leanne Prien, said Ingrid Wyatt, spokeswoman for the Riverside County district attorney's office.

"It was a very difficult case with complicated issues involved," Wyatt said.

Prien, who is currently serving a 10-year sentence for felony child endangerment, would have faced 15 years to life if she had been convicted. The jury got the case June 15 after a 2 1/2-month trial.

The story reports that prosecuters are leaning towards a retrial, even as Prien's attorneys have filed a $10 million civil suit against the prosecutors.

How To Buy “No More Sunsets”

I received this email from Shawn Bridges' brother.  Shawn's the dying meth addict who is allowing his failing health to be filmed in the moving "No More Sunsets," which I posted on earlier.

If you are still trying to get a copy of the tape you can call Chip at Rossetti Productions at 618/922-6063 or send a check or money order of $20 to Chip Rossetti. 1400 Chestnut, Marion, IL 62959

I am Shawn's Brother we have a myspace site for Shawn; it is http://www.myspace.com/shawnbridges

Shawn would like to get emails about how his story is helping people or letters though mail. shawn_bridges@sbcglobal.net
Shawn Bridges
c/o Jack Bridges
554 Woodbine PL
Cape Girardeau, MO 63701

Thanking you for talking about his story and helping us get it out to the people.

And thank Shawn and his family for letting this very personal and powerful story be told!

World Cup Alcohol Poisoning

This news out of China:

A young man named Wang, watching a game on June 10 at a bar in Changsha, the capital of southern Hunan province, drank too much and died at four the following morning, the newspaper said.  

Bad Bust In Fentanyl-Heroin Case

Efforts to find who's killed more than 200 people by lacing heroin with Fentanyl came up dry … somewhat … in Chicago.

In raids on Wednesday, agents seized more than 220 pounds of heroin, firearms, vehicles and cash — but no Fentanyl-laced heroin.  So the search for the killers goes on. 

If you have any doubts about how cynical drug marketers are about their customers, and how little their customers worry about their lives, consider this from the AP story:

Assistant U.S. Attorney Gary Shapiro alleged that the Mickey Cobras gang marketed its drugs to take advantage of the deadly heroin’s notoriety, selling products with names such as “Max Pain,” “Lethal Injection,” “Fear Factor,” “Drop Dead” and “Final Call.”

Some say the solution to all this is to simply legalize heroin, give it free to addicts and toss in free needles for good measure. Sorry. Heroin is bad stuff, and society is supposed to protect its members from bad stuff.

Baby Drug Death Case Goes To Jury

Amy Leanne Prien's fate now lies in the hands of a jury.  Unfortunately, her infant son Jacob's fate was entirely in hers. She is accused of killing Jacob by breast-feeding him meth-laced mother's milk.  From the Riverside (CA) Press-Enterprise:

During closing statements, Supervising Deputy District Attorney Allison Nelson reminded jurors of testimony from Amy Leanne Prien's friends, who said Prien used methamphetamine during her entire pregnancy and after her son, Jacob Smith, was born.

"She continued to breast-feed that baby because she didn't care," Nelson said. "She was responsible to protect him, to protect him. The choices the defendant made cost him his life."

Prien used methamphetamine for 10 to 15 years and sold it to others, the prosecutor said. …

In 2003, Prien was convicted and sentenced to 15 years to life in prison. Her conviction was overturned last year, but a state appeals court did not bar prosecutors from retrying Prien. Her retrial began in April.

The blood tests showed Prien's levels were 471, within the potentially lethal range, he said, which spans from 40 to 5,000.

Her defense attorney placed the blame on Jacob, saying the infant might have licked the meth off bedsheets.  And how did the meth get on the sheets?

An Unusual Drug Death

Drugs alter the brain; that's why people take them.  Sometimes, they alter all reason right out of the brainpan, resulting in strage tragedies like this, from the Liverpool (UK) Daily Echo:

A man jumped to his death after realising he was on the wrong bus, a court heard.

Michael Anderson, of Mark Rake, Bromborough, was travelling to Birkenhead with his girlfriend when the pair realised the bus was heading towards the Queensway tunnel.

Mr Anderson asked the driver to stop and activated the front door when he refused.

The 31-year-old, who had traces of alcohol and methadone in his system at the time of his death, fell out as the vehicle turned a corner and went under a rear wheel.

Does anyone think he would have jumped if there were no drugs in his system?