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Dawn of the zombies 27 May 2006 From New Scientist Print Edition. Subscribe and get 4 free issues. Robin Orwant IT STARTS out like any silicon chip: intricate patterns are drawn with light and etched with acid. But this is no microprocessor destined for a computer. Instead there are minuscule chambers filled with human cells: liver cells, lung cells, fat cells, all connected by tiny channels. A nutrient fluid is pumped through the channels, flowing from one chamber to another just as blood flows from organ to organ in the body. That's the whole point. The chip, created by Michael...

WASHINGTON -- Student athletes, musicians, and others who participate in after-school activities could increasingly be subject to random drug testing under a program promoted by the Bush administration. White House officials say drug testing is an effective way to keep students away from harmful substances like marijuana and crystal methamphetamine, and have held seminars across the country to promote the practice to local school officials. But some parents, educators, and school officials call it a heavy-handed, ineffective way to discourage drug use that undermines trust and invades students' privacy. ''Our money should be going toward educating young people, not putting...

Student athletes, musicians and others who participate in after school activities could increasingly be subject to random drug testing under a program promoted by the Bush administration. White House officials say drug testing is an effective way to keep students away from harmful substances like marijuana and crystal methamphetamine, and have held seminars across the country to promote the practice to local school officials. But some parents, educators and school officials call it a heavy-handed, ineffective way to discourage drug use that undermines trust and invades students' privacy. "Our money should be going toward educating young people, not putting them...

SAN DIEGO ---- Calling student drug use a "national public-health problem," the White House's deputy drug czar told educators Wednesday that random drug testing can be a potent and effective deterrent strategy. Mary Ann Solberg, deputy director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, strongly endorsed student screening before a crowd of roughly 150 school and community leaders at a conference on drug testing held at San Diego's Hilton Hotel in Mission Valley. Opponents of student drug testing also attended the conference to ask questions of the speakers and speak with reporters in the hallways. "We see this as...

Please access the enclosed Ann Coulter link and view list of athletes who support President George W. Bush.

Black Police Officers in Boston Sue Department, Alleging Racial Bias in Drug-Related Dismissals The Associated Press Published: Jul 27, 2005 BOSTON (AP) - Seven black police officers who were fired after failing a drug test that relied on hair samples have sued the police department, alleging the screening method is racially biased. The officers were fired between 2002 and 2004 after they tested positive for cocaine. Members of the force are tested each year. The officers' lawyer, Rheba Rutkowski, who filed the lawsuit on Tuesday in Suffolk Superior Court, said the test results can be skewed by the texture of...

THE efficiency of a high-tech drug-testing machine unveiled in Britain was amply proven when the government minister showing it off tested positive for cannabis. Edwina Hart, social justice minister in the semi-autonomous regional government of Wales, was found to have been in contact with the drug after having a hand swab analysed by the Ion Track narcotics machine. William Graham, a member of the Welsh Assembly, who had arranged for police to demonstrate the machine at the Assembly building, also tested positive for cannabis. However, the politicians were keen to stress that such was the power of the device, positive...

Thursday, May 19, 2005 Latin Americans failing steroid tests at higher rate By Tom Farrey ESPN.com SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic – At mention of the word "anabolic," the clerk behind the counter at a GNC store points to a shelf that displays the container of a muscle-building agent – $100 worth of souped-up pills, hope in a bottle to many of her clients. "This is what our baseball players buy," she said. She is referring to Anotesten, the brand name for a product based on a steroid precursor, a chemical that metabolizes into testosterone once it's in the body. The...

Drug Test Nation Get a whiff of the new pot-sniffing technologies, coming to a highway near you One look at the Cozart RapiScan, a self-proclaimed complete "on-site oral fluid drugs of abuse diagnostic system," and it's obvious: This isn't your parents' drug test. Gone are the golden days of the plastic collection cup. The Cozart saliva testing system comes in a spiffy silver suitcase and consists of an oral fluid collection swab, a disposable test cartridge, its own handheld digital computer, and a portable printer "for a permanent record of test results." The official U.S. distributor of the RapiScan, The...

A world-first random roadside drug testing facility took just 15 minutes to detect its first alleged drugged-driver in Melbourne on Monday. Assistant Commissioner Bob Hastings said police did not know what to expect when they began testing on Monday in Whitehall Street, Yarraville, in Melbourne's inner-west. "We turned out here this morning with the expectation of not quite knowing what to expect really, and it was surprising that so early we got some driver who tested positive," he told reporters. "We will crank this up as we move towards Christmas and focus on those areas where we believe there's high...

WASHINGTON (AP)--The military is increasing drug testing of its forces serving in Afghanistan and Iraq, in part out of concern that troops will turn to drugs because of the stress of combat, Pentagon officials said Friday. Drug use is low in the military and primarily limited to marijuana, said Mary Beth Long, the deputy assistant defense secretary for counternarcotics. She spoke with the American Forces Press Service, an internal military news service. But concerns about drug use center on Afghanistan, which has become the world's leading provider of opium since the U.S.-led campaign that drove the Taliban from power three...

Imagine if your kid wanted to tryout for cheerleading, but had to agree to go through random drug testing first. One Riverside County high school is moving closer to that. But not everyone is on board with this idea. Come next year, some students here at this school might be a little more cautious when choosing whether to experiment with drugs. If approved by the school board, Banning High would be the first school in the county to make students who go out for extra curricular activates, like football or band, consent to random drug tests. But besides random drug...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Siding with his business allies, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed bills Saturday that would have raised the minimum wage to $7.75 an hour and required economic impact reports before local governments approve Wal-Mart-like mega-stores. The Republican governor also turned down legislation that would have limited drug testing of students. He contended the minimum wage and super-store legislation would have hurt the state's economy and said drug testing policies should be left up to school officials. "I cannot support legislation that eliminates the ability of local school districts to make decisions based on the needs and values of their...

GROVEPORT MADISON Students must pass drug test to park Saturday, August 28, 2004 Bill Bush THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH Before they could park their cars this school year at Groveport Madison High School, students had to urinate in a cup. The new drug-testing program for students who drive to school has some students upset and the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio questioning its constitutionality. The measure is to discourage students from driving while under the influence of drugs or alcohol, school officials say. Previously, only student athletes were tested. "I want people in this community to realize that we have...

Reports that the drug giant GlaxoSmithKline buried evidence that its top-selling antidepressant, Paxil, is not effective in children have stimulated calls for a public registry of company-sponsored research. It's about time. You might imagine that this was an isolated case of corporate misbehavior, but in fact suppressing unfavorable research results is fairly standard practice in the pharmaceutical industry. Before drug companies are allowed to bring a new drug to market, they are required by the Food and Drug Administration to conduct clinical trials to show that the drug is safe and effective. They are supposed to provide the agency with...

TWIN FALLS, Idaho -- A family is suing the Twin Falls School District over its policy of mandatory drug testing for students in extracurricular activities. Joe and Denise Stanzak, whose daughters Danielle and Anastasia are Twin Falls High School students, contend the policy is too broad and violates students' rights. "The school district has created a policy that causes substantial harms to its students," Joe Stanzak, the family's attorney, argued in filing documents. "The policy discourages from participation in student activities individuals who would otherwise benefit from experiences outside the strictly academic curriculum. "Exclusion of students from these activities will...

Head teachers in British schools will be given new powers to order pupils to undergo random tests for illegal drugs, Prime Minister Tony Blair said in an interview with a Sunday newspaper. "If heads believe they have a problem in their school then they should be able to do random drug testing," Mr Blair told the News of the World. Education authorities will be able to take urine samples from pupils and use sniffer dogs to search school grounds for drugs, according the newspaper. "Guidance will be given to head teachers next month which is going to give them specifically...

Employees run into unwritten rule of workplace: Urinate on demand By ADAM GELLER AP Business Writer Tom Smith worried he was in for trouble on a Wednesday morning last November, when a supervisor pulled the assembly line worker aside and told him to the report to the factory nurse's station. There, with a plastic urine specimen cup in hand, 40 ounces of water sloshing around inside him and the nurse waiting expectantly, Smith says he spent three hours straining to do what most people barely think about. But when the time allotted for the random drug test was finished, the...

In the battle to keep drunk drivers off the streets, few weapons have proven as effective as the Ignition Interlock device. It has been so effective, that one lawmaker wants to put a device in every car in the state. There's no question the device works -- if you're drunk, the Interlock won't let you drive. Supporters like Rep. Ken Martinez say if there's an interlock in every car, no one drives drunk. "Imagine that we technologically prevent someone from driving while drunk because the car just won't start. Imagine how much money would we save," Martinez explained. And lives,...

O.K. This qualifies as a Vanity, I guess. I haven't done one in years, though, so please humor me. [p]I am a Federal Healthcare Employee who is also a Union Official. I recently was informed that a directive has been sent down from MEDCOM that we were to begin "Implementation and Impact" meetings with management about a NON-NEGOTIABLE requirement to add postions to the "Testing Designated Positions" list as provided by AR 600-85. [p]A little research reveals that AR 600-85 limits designating "Testing Designated Positions" to positions that meet defined criteria. Employees that carry firearms, operate vehicles over 26,000 lbs....