drug (7)

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 Manchester City's Kolo Toure (L) celebrates scoring against Wolverhampton Wanderers during their English Premier League match in Manchester, January 15, 2011.

Manchester City defender Kolo Toure has been suspended after failing a drug test, the Premier League club said on their website (www.mcfc.co.uk) on Thursday.

 

The Football Association (FA) informed City that an A-sample provided by the Ivory Coast international had tested positive for a specified substance.

The 29-year-old has been suspended from taking part in all matches pending the outcome of the legal process.

Toure played for Arsenal from 2002-09 before joining City for around 16 million pounds, one of a number of big-name players to move to Eastlands after the club's takeover by billionaire owners from Abu Dhabi.

Toure, who has played over 80 times for his country, was made captain by former coach Mark Hughes but lost the armband this season after the arrival of manager Roberto Mancini.

His younger brother Yaya joined City from Barcelona last year.

City are third in the standings, 10 points behind leaders Manchester United but on course to qualify for next season's Champions League.

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Aimee Michael
(pictured left), for the most part, seems to be a lot like the rest of us. She's a 24-year-old black femalecollege graduate with two parents who love her. Her parents have beenmarried for 28 years, and her mother is a 52-year-old former schoolteacher. On Easter Sunday in 2009, though, Aimee found herself facing upto 50 years in prison. While she didn't get the entire 50 years, she did get 36 of them.

Aimee Michael was the cause of a massive car accident in Atlanta, achain reaction that caused the deaths of five people, including anewborn baby, a 6-year-old and a 9-year-old. After being sideswiped byanother car, Michael's BMW hit another car, causing it to collidehead-on with another vehicle. Michael is going to prison, because aftercausing this terrible accident, she fled the scene and tried to cover upthe evidence.

Aimee Michael's mother, Sheila (pictured right), wasgiven eight years in prison for her role in the cover up. This has leftthe Michael family devastated, but not nearly as much as the families ofthe victims.

"I want to say that I am wrong. I have wronged three families and for that I am sorry," Michael said in court.

Michael was arrested two weeks after the accident, when neighbors calledthe police. She was found guilty on five counts of vehicular homicide,six counts of hit and run and several misdemeanors.

The judge was actually brought to tears and said she prayed about thedecision before rendering the sentence. The deciding factor in the crashwas the fact that Michael left the scene of the accident. She alsoexpressed disappointment in Michael's mother for not turning herdaughter in to the police.

When it comes to the sentencing of Aimee Michael, I'm going to have tokeep it real: Based on what I've read about Aimee and her family, it appears that much of this could have happened to any of us.While most of us would not have left the scene of the accident, I can'thelp but imagine Aimee as a frightened 24-year-old young adult who didsomething incredibly stupid.

Also, while we can easily criticize Aimee's mother for protecting herdaughter, I am willing to bet that at least half the people reading thisarticle may at least consider doing the same thing if it meant keepingtheir child from prison. This does not, in any way, condone Aimee'sactions (or those of her mother), but it does highlight the difficultyof the decisions that this family had to make.

Aimee's attorney made a very good point. She said that we shouldconsider what the sentence would have been had Aimee not left the scene:

"What Sheila Michael did was driven by fear and attempt to protect her child," said Renee Rockwell,Aimee's attorney. "It was the worst move she could have made. If AimeeMichael had gone back to the scene, we would be talking about six to 12months at most."

Personally, I see the accident as the thing that it was: an accident.She was side-swiped and hit another car. Given that's the case, I am notsure if a long prison sentence would be appropriate. But one thing thatmust be considered is that Aimee Michael has been cited numerous timesfor driving too fast. In the state of Pennsylvania, she received severalspeeding tickets within a very short amount of time. She is also knownto be someone who regularly smokes marijuana and there was even a"marijuana cigar" found in the car during the police investigation. Thisinformation tells us clearly that Aimee, like many young people acrossAmerica is both reckless and inconsiderate in her personal choices. Inspite of her shameful behavior, I can't help but feel that 36-years inprison is simply too long of a sentence.

On a secondary note, there is no doubt in my mind that Aimee Michael andher mother deserve to go to prison. My heart dropped to the ground whenreading about the three young children killed in this accident. I alsomourn for the families of all of the victims. This story serves as acautionary tale to all of the kids across America who think it's cute orcool to speed down the highway or to get involved in drugs. You mightthink you're having harmless fun, but you could end up ruining the livesof yourself, strangers and people you care about. When Aimee Michaelshowed up to her mother's house after getting involved in this accident,she instantly destroyed her family. Should it be the case that she wasdriving irresponsibly, the guilt of this experience will be with herforever.

The fact that Aimee and her mother were so selfish as to ignore thesuffering of these families by attempting to hide their involvement issimply sickening. With that said, I will also say that 5 - 10 years inprison for Aimee might have been a more reasonable sentence. I don'tagree with 36 years in prison, and I sincerely doubt she would havegotten this much time if she were Paris Hilton or someone from an affluent Georgia family.

On that note, this is an incredibly painful story to read, and I wishthe families the best. The sadness of this tragedy resonates through allof our psyches, and we can learn quite a few lessons about vehiclesafety and doing the right thing. When you get behind the wheel, pleasebe careful. Driving is an important responsibility.

By Boyce Watkins, PhD on Nov 4th 2010 9:41PM

Extracted from Blackvoices.com

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The Lancet, a British medical journal, lists alcohol as the most harmful drug among a list of 20 drugs.
The Lancet, a British medical journal, lists alcohol as the most harmful drug among a list of 20 drugs.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS..
  • The study uses a new scale to rank the harmfulness of 20 drugs
  • Alcohol is the most harmful overall, according to panelists
  • A co-author of the study has said horseback riding is more dangerous than ecstasy

London, England (CNN) -- Alcohol ranks "most harmful" among a list of 20 drugs -- beating out crack and heroin --according to study results released by a British medical journal.

A panel of experts weighed the physical, psychological and socialproblems caused by the drugs and determined that alcohol was the mostharmful overall, according to an article on the study released by TheLancet Sunday.

Using a new scale to evaluate harms to individual users and others, alcohol received a score of 72 on a scale of 1 to 100,the study says.

That makes it almost three times as harmful as cocaine or tobacco, according to the article, which is slated to bepublished on The Lancet's website Monday and in an upcoming printedition of the journal.

Heroin, crack cocaine and methamphetamine were the most harmful drugs to individuals, the study says, whilealcohol, heroin and crack cocaine were the most harmful to others.

In the article, the panelists said their findings show that Britain'sthree-tiered drug classification system, which places drugs intodifferent categories that determine criminal penalties for possessionand dealing, has "little relation to the evidence of harm."

Panelists also noted that the rankings confirm other studies that say that"aggressively targeting alcohol harms is a valid and necessary publichealth strategy."

The Lancet article was co-authored by David Nutt, a professor and Britain's former chief drug adviser, who causedcontroversy last year after he published an article saying ecstasy wasnot as dangerous as riding a horse.

"So why are harmful sporting activities allowed, whereas relatively less harmful drugs are not?" Nuttwrote in the Journal of Psychopharmacology. "I believe this reflects asocietal approach which does not adequately balance the relative risksof drugs against their harms."

Nutt later apologized to anyone offended by the article and to those who have lost loved ones toecstasy. He said he had no intention of trivializing the dangers of thedrug and that he only wanted to compare the risks.

In the article released by The Lancet Sunday, ecstasy's harmfulness ranking -- 9 --indicates it is only one eighth as harmful as alcohol.

The study was funded by the London-based Centre for Crime and Justice studies.

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US removes Nigeria from drug list

The United States government yesterday removed Nigeria from the major drug list.

President obama said that Nigeria was a onetime drug trafficking focal point but that the country had taken a lot of drastic steps to make counternarcotics a top national security for the country. Photo: REUTERS

According to a statement released by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), the US President, Barack Obama, said that this was the first time that Nigeria would be delisted from the drug majors list since 1991. The anti-narcotics agency stated that Mr Obama said that Nigeria was a onetime drug trafficking focal point but that the country had taken a lot of drastic steps to make counter narcotics a top national security for the country. He said that international data showed that there was a strengthening of illegal drug trafficking between Latin America and West Africa, especially via Brazil and Venezuela, with a considerable portion of illegal product destined for Europe.

According to the report, Nigeria, Brazil, and Paraguay were recently removed this year from the list because they no longer meet the criteria for the list according to US law. Reacting, Ahmadu Giade, the Chief Executive of the NDLEA, said that Nigeria had gotten a well deserved honour. He noted that the removal of Nigeria from the majors drug list was an endorsement of the collective efforts of the agency to combat drug traffickers with the aim of having a drug free society. According to him, the honour given to Nigeria by removing her from the drug list was as a product of dedication, transparency, hard work, and cordial working relationship between Nigeria and United States in controlling drug trafficking in the country.

The NDLEA is happy

“I appreciate President Barack Obama and Americans for this candid and credible assessment,” he said. “The removal speaks volumes concerning our impressive scorecard and determination to address the drug problem. Illicit trade in narcotics transcends national boundaries. Our foreign collaborators also have a way of monitoring most assiduous efforts. All exit entry points will remain invincible to drug criminals through effective drug interdiction.” The NDLEA boss also thanked President Goodluck Jonathan for his anti-drug policies, and other stakeholders for their unrelenting efforts. He promised that no drug baron or major drug trafficker would go unpunished in the country, adding that NDLEA was one of the best anti-drugs agencies in Africa and that the agency is prepared to make sacrifices to sustain and improve on its drug control performance “Our level of professionalism shall be further consolidated on the tripod of transparency, anti-corruption and respect for the rule of law,” he said. “It is a call to duty that demands higher commitment on our part. We shall continue to partner with the United States and other stakeholders. No stone will be left unturned in our quest for a drug free society.”

According to the agency, the 20 countries on the list this year are Afghanistan, The Bahamas, Bolivia, Burma, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, India, Jamaica, Laos, Mexico, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Panama, Peru and Venezuela. A major drug-transit country is defined as a significant direct source of illicit narcotic or psychotropic drugs or other controlled substances significantly affecting the United States; or a country through which such drugs or substances are transported.
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A pregnant woman and four other suspects have been arrested by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) for attempting to smuggle 6.3kg of narcotics out of the country.

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The agency, on Wednesday, disclosed that the pregnant suspect, Osatohanwen Esohe, 29, who was nabbed at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos for ingesting cocaine while trying to board an Alitalia flight to Rome, excreted 27 wraps of the drugs weighing 350g.

“Apart from Chukwuemeka Kingsley that ingested 1.4kg of heroin, Esohe and three others were smuggling 4.8kg of cocaine when they were caught,” said Mitchell Ofoyeju, spokesperson for the agency in a statement.

Hamza Umar, MMIA commander for the agency, disclosed that the pregnant suspect’s action shows no respect for human life, as he described the act as weird.

“They do not have respect for their own lives neither do they respect the dignity of their children,” he said. “This is the height of desperation by drug barons and their associates.”

Mr. Umar gave the names of the other four suspects that were recently apprehended as Arovo Moses, 42, who ingested 1.7kg of cocaine; Darlington Nwanwere, 48, ingested 1.3kg of cocaine; Okeke Anthony, 46, who ingested 1.46kg cocaine; and Chukwuemeka Kingsley, 34, who ingested 1.4kg heroin.

Explaining her reasons for involving in drug peddling, Ms. Esohe disclosed that she was rejected by the man who impregnated her, adding that she had to fend for herself in order to survive.

“I am three months pregnant, and the man that impregnated me refused to take responsibility,” she said. “That was how I got involved in drug trafficking. They promised to pay me 2,000 Euros and I needed the money to take care of myself and the unborn baby.”

According to the agency, Mr. Okeke, a trader and father of three who was to be paid 4,000 pounds, was nabbed on March 19, during screening of passengers on Virgin Atlantic flight to London, while Chukwuemeka Kingsley, the only suspect that ingested heroin, was arrested for swallowing 95 wraps of the substance while trying to board an Alitalia flight to Milan for the sum of 5,000 Euros.

The agency’s spokesperson, however, disclosed that the suspects are to be prosecuted according to the dictates of the law.

“All the suspects will soon be charged to court,” said Mr. Ofoyeju.

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A Federal High Court in Ekiti has sentenced a 70-year-old man to five years in jail for being in possession of 230 kg of marijuana.

Dominic Fabunmi, a native of Agbado Ekiti, was arrested last year by officers of the Ekiti State command of the Nigerian Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).

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In its charge, the NDLEA said Mr. Fabunmi cultivates cannabis farms usually in Government Reserved Forests and and sells same to his network of clients in the Lagos and South-South areas of the country.

“He has been in the business for long and he stores his products in his house without fear of retribution from the law,” the command says.

Mr. Fabunmi was paraded in public shortly after his arrest alongside his colleagues, who also bagged various jail terms.

The Ekiti State Commander of NDLEA , Prince Benjamin Ikani, said the state is fast becoming a preferred haven for Indian Hemp dealers. He said his agency made the largest drug seizure ever in the history of the agency in the state last year.

“It was 82 tons of cannabis, which was stored in a one-storey house in 5,600 bags. It took a 24 -tyre trailer 7 hours to evacuate,” Mr. Ikani said.

External barons

Mr. Ikani said most of the barons sponsor the cultivation of the weeds from outside the state.

“Because of the fertile nature of Ekiti land and the passiveness and good naturedness of the people, these criminals always have their way. They take advantage of the people and the soil to flourish their trade. Mind you, it only takes three months for the weeds to germinate. So they quickly harvest their products before the land owners catch them in their acts and move them to Lagos or the South-South to feed their clients,” he said.

He also added that his agency is involved in the rehabilitation of at least 36 students of various higher institutions in the state, especially at the state-owned University of Ado -Ekiti (UNAD).

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FG Seeks Death Penalty for Fake Drug Offenders

In its campaign to rid the country of fake and sub-standard drugs, the Federal Government yesterday recommended death penalty for fake drugdealers.It said the draft bill for review of the laws guiding the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), would be presented to the National Assembly for consideration within two weeks.Speaking on the theme: “Combating Drug Hawking, Counterfeit Drugs and Unwholsome Regulated Products,” at a one-day workshop organised by theNational Agency for Food, Drug and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) for 774 local government councils in the country, in Abuja, Minister of State for Health, Dr Idi Hong, said government was alarmed at the damage done to the population as aresult of activities of fake and sub-standard drug peddlers.He said government was partnering the National Assembly to ensure that maximum penalty was meted out to offenders.“We at the Ministry of Health are asking for maximum penalty for those involved in the sale, manufacture and importation of fake andsub-standard drugs.We are asking National Assembly to support us in this advocacy for maximum penalty for such offenders.“If you know that you will loose your life or spend the rest of it in jail and that you will not live to spend the money you made from such trade, you will not be involved in it,” he said.Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Michael Andoaaka, SAN, said perpetrators of such acts would not escape justice, as government was determined to end the debacle.In her speech, First Lady, Mrs Turai Yar’Adua, sought efforts to ensure that the drug war was won. She called on local government chairmen to set up NAFDAC desks in their councils, as a way of taking the campaign to the grassroots.Earlie, Director-General of NAFDAC, Dr Paul Orhii, saidthe agency was fully committed to moving to the next level in its regulatory activities that would be comparable to other international regulatory authorities.
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