Police slap Bohemian Beatfreaks festival with $200,000 quote as court battle continues

RELATED STORY: Panel to advise NSW on how to make music festivals safer (as long as it\’s not pill testing)

RELATED STORY: NSW Premier vows to shut down dance music festival after two die from suspected overdoses

The organiser of a three-day music festival that is scheduled to begin on Friday says a $200,000 quote for police to attend is an attempt to shut down the event.

The Bohemian Beatfreaks festival was slapped with the quote about two weeks out from the event\’s start on Friday.

Police earlier withdrew their support for the festival at a pre-event meeting on October 26, citing \”overwhelming safety concerns\”.

That was opposed by the festival\’s operators, Rabbits Eat Lettuce Pty Ltd, who took the matter to the Land and Environment Court.

The festival is scheduled to be held on a remote private property, near Casino, on the New South Wales north coast.

The matter is ongoing and will return to the court on Monday.

\’Last minute police action\’

Rabbits Eat Lettuce director Erik Lamir-Pike said police had originally quoted about $16,000 to attend the event, which was in line with festivals over previous years.

\”It seems as though they\’ve given us a hefty $200,000 user-paid police quote to try and price us out because they feel that they might lose this court case,\” Mr Lamir Pike said.

For complete story https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-11-17/police-bill-to-shut-down-music-festival/10505602

SENATOR DURBIN, ILLINOIS BISHOPS PUSH BACK AGAINST LEGALIZING MARIJUANA

FEBRUARY, 2019

As published in the February 2 in the State-Journal-Register: U.S. Sen. DICK DURBIN, D-Illinois, says he doesn’t think Illinois should rush into making recreational use of marijuana legal.

Durbin, of Springfield, was asked about the issue when appearing on another topic last week at the Memorial Center for Learning and Innovation.

“I can remember the worst times, when it came to marijuana, and when I was a lawyer in this town, and somebody with a 17-year-old son would come in and say, ‘My kid just got busted for smoking pot,’” Durbin said. “They wanted to know … whether or not there was any way to spare their son from the embarrassment and possibly life-changing results of being prosecuted for smoking a joint.”

He said he thought that was “extreme,” but “now we’ve got to take care that we don’t go to the other extreme.”

Because of conflicts in state and federal law, Durbin said, the federal government hasn’t tested marijuana, like it does other drugs, for safety and effectiveness. While he is OK with medical use of marijuana to provide pain relief and help alleviate the “devastation of opioids,” he said, “what’s missing here is the usual course of clinical trials” he thinks are needed before recreational use moves forward.

Senator Durbin recommends article in The New Yorker

Durbin said he recommends a recent article by MALCOLM GLADWELL in The New Yorker. The headline of the online version is: “Is Marijuana as Safe as We Think?”

He said it discusses “the impact of legalizing marijuana in many states … and what they have seen as a result of it: the increase in traffic accidents; certain mental health conditions seem to be more prevalent in those states. These are all legitimate clinical questions that should be asked and tested.”

Durbin also said challenges include figuring out how to measure impairment to protect people driving and operating heavy machinery.

“Those sorts of things are legitimate questions,” Durbin said. “We had possibly good answers when it came to alcohol, but when it comes to marijuana, I think we’re in new territory.”

He also said he knows that in the case of Illinois, the legalization decision is up to state officials.

Illinois Bishops release statement against legalizing marijuana

On Feb. 4th, Catholic Bishops of Illinois issued statements, in English, inSpanish and in Polish, against the legalization of marijuana. It reads:

“Legislation that would legalize marijuana for recreational use will be considered in the Illinois General Assembly. The Catholic bishops of Illinois are committed to the common good, and therefore advise against legalization.

“Data collected by government agencies and public-interest groups document that drug use is rampant in modern society. Just a few years ago, we heard too many stories of children turned into orphans after their parents overdosed on heroin. Today, we hear of the opioid crisis and the lives it claims. If marijuana is legalized, it will only add to the problem.

“Proponents of legalization say marijuana is not addictive, yet peer-reviewed research concludes that it is. Proponents also say that most people who use marijuana will not move on to harder drugs, yet other studies note that most people who are addicted to other drugs started with alcohol and marijuana.

For complete article http://www.poppot.org/2019/02/06/senator-durbin-illinois-bishops-against-marijuana/

Police seize $1.29 billion drug haul bound for Australia

Authorities have seized a record 1.7 tonnes of ice bound for Australia, carrying an estimated street value of $1.29 billion.

It is the single largest seizure of methamphetamine heading Down Under and the largest domestic bust of the drug on US soil.

Police said the raids stopped more than 17 million potential drug deals.

Two American nationals were among six people arrested in Australia yesterday; four in Victoria and two in NSW.

A joint taskforce of Australian Federal Police, Border Force and Victoria Police raided properties across Melbourne yesterday at Woodstock, Pakenham and Campbellfield.

Pallets of electronic equipment were being dismantled and X-rayed in the car park at two Campbellfield factories yesterday.

The pallets bore a shipping sticker bearing the name of a Californian electronics company.

For more https://www.9news.com.au/2019/02/08/07/35/melbourne-news-afp-seize-record-drug-meth-australia-bound

#PreventDontPromote

BDP Launches The First Recovery Orchestra In The South West

Bristol Drugs Project are very excited to announce the launch of the first Recovery Orchestra in the South West! The orchestra will join its family of arts and recovery groups, which already include Rising Voices Recovery Choir and Stepladder Drama group, which have both been running for 4 years.

Starting in February 2019 and meeting for an initial 8 weeks, the recovery orchestra will be creating and writing music together leading up to a performance at the end of March.

Sophie, from BDP, says: I was inspired to set up a recovery orchestra when I came across New Note Orchestra in Brighton in September 2017. Our recovery choir, Rising Voices, had been invited to take part and perform in the Music Dare conference, and New Note were there too. Witnessing the impact playing music together had had on their members, I wanted to come back to Bristol and do the same thing! It seemed like the logical next step for the arts recovery groups at Bristol Drugs Project, and for the arts and recovery scene in Bristol. A year and a half down the line, we have funding from Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra to run an 8 week pilot of our very own Recovery Orchestra!

Led by local composer and conductor, Jon James, the Recovery Orchestra will welcome anyone who can play an acoustic instrument and has had issues with drugs and alcohol or is in recovery.  You don’t need to be able to read music, beginners and experienced musicians are welcome, and you don\’t have to have used BDP or ROADS services to take part.

For complete story https://www.bdp.org.uk/news/bdp-launches-the-first-recovery-orchestra-in-the-south-west

US: NATIONAL DRUG CONTROL STRATEGY

The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy has published the administration’s first National Drug Control Strategy and outlined its priorities for combating illicit drug abuse and distribution.

This Strategy is focused on achieving one overarching strategic objective:

\”Building a stronger, healthier, drug free society today and in the years to come by drastically reducing the number of Americans losing their lives to drug addiction in today’s crisis, and preparing now to dominate the drug environment of the future. This will be done by preventing initiates to drug use, providing treatment services leading to long-term recovery for those suffering from addiction, and aggressively reducing the availability of illicit drugs in America’s communities. \”

For copy of the National Drug Strategy http://www.eurad.net/filestore/PDF/NDCS-Final2.pdf

ANOTHER HORROR STORY OF CANNABIS USER WHO KILLED HIS FAMILY

FEBRUARY 5, 2019

Last week another violent horror story made national news, and once again, there’s a marijuana connection. Dakota Theriot, a 21-year-old from Louisiana, allegedly killed his parents, his girlfriend and her father and brother. A sheriff called the Dakota Theriot case an “extremely horrific example of failed mental health system.” Five people died, but the violent outbreak follows a pattern of family murders linked to pot use and mental illness.

Authorities tracked Theriot to his grandmother’s home in Virginia. It didn’t take one journalist long to find out that Theriot had used cannabis for many years.

“Cory Flannery, a friend of Theriot’s from his time in Warsaw, a small town of about 1,500 in the Northern Neck of Virginia, said he remembers Theriot sitting on his couch eating cereal and smoking marijuana with him. While Flannery said Theriot had a temper, the shooting rampage on Saturday was still out of character for the person he knew.

“Flannery said Theriot had smoked weed for years and was addicted to cigarettes as a middle-schooler but didn’t know him to use hard drugs at the time. Though he was often in trouble, Flannery said, Theriot didn’t seem violent or dangerous.”

When Keith Theriot, Dakota’s deceased father, called police in 2017, the home was in a cloud of marijuana smoke used by both father and son. He said that his son was diagnosed with “substance-induced mood swings.” However, Dakota’s ex-wife, who witnessed his violence and hallucinations, said he had been diagnosed with schizophrenia. Mental illness does not dictate homicidal violence, but it’s more likely to occur when enhanced by drugs like marijuana.

For complete story Cannabis Carnage & Criminal Chaos

University students\’ grades plunge when cannabis is legalised, studies find

• Studies have found that legalising cannabis leads to students failing exams
• Legalisation was said to lead to an increase in the assignment of D and F grades
• Researchers found ‘a much stronger effect on grades of men than women’

By STEPHEN ADAMS FOR THE MAIL ON SUNDAY UPDATED: 01:07 AEDT, 4 February 2019

Legalising cannabis leads to more university students flunking their exams.

Striking evidence that legalising the drug negatively affects undergraduates’ behaviour and makes weaker students particularly likely to fall behind is provided by three new studies.

In America, researchers found that students’ grades at Washington Western University fell after Washington became the first US state to legalise the recreational use of marijuana in 2012.

Legalisation ‘leads to an increased incidence in the assignment of D and F grades’, authors Adam Wright and John Krieg wrote in the journal Economic Inquiry. ‘Specifically, we estimate that Ds and Fs are given about seven per cent more frequently after legalisation.’

Legalising cannabis leads to more university students flunking their exams, three new studies have found (stock image)

They also found ‘a much stronger [negative] effect on grades of men than women’ — consistent with evidence that young American men are twice as likely to smoke cannabis as young American women.

A second US study discovered that even in states where only medicinal cannabis use has been legalised, students were more likely to slacken off, with average study time around a fifth lower than in states with a blanket ban.

‘College students in medical marijuana law states spend approximately 20 per cent less time on education-related activities and 20 per cent more time on leisure activities than their counterparts in non-medical marijuana law states,’ the research team reported.

For complete story https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-6661987/University-students-grades-plunge-cannabis-legalised-studies-find.html

Pseudo-Decriminalisation of this heinous drug ‘Cannabis’ — The Price We All Pay!