Free Republic

Authored by Michael Krieger via Liberty Blitzkrieg blog, Allowing government to arbitrarily determine which substances human beings can put into their own bodies is one of the most idiotic things a society can do. As such, its no surprise Congress is salivating at the prospect of furthering this travesty by giving additional discretion on the matter to drug war-crazed loon, Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Reason published an excellent article on the topic in yesterday’s piece: Congress Wants To Give Jeff Sessions Unprecedented New Drug War Powers. Here are some key excerpts: If you think the Department of Justice has more than...

Anybody have experience taking this drug? It's interaction with morphine sulfate? Does anybody take this for Sciatica?

It’s a conundrum that has stumped scientists for centuries, but now researchers say they have taken a tantalising step forward in the quest to tackle the common cold. The scourge of workplace, home and school playground, the common cold is predominantly caused by the rhinovirus. But attempts to thwart the pathogen by vaccination or antiviral drugs face a number of difficulties – not least because the virus comes in many forms and can mutate rapidly leading to drug resistance. But now scientists say they have discovered a way to nobble the virus that could one day help those with conditions...

Oxytocin-enforced norm compliance reduces xenophobic outgroup rejection Nina Marsh, Dirk Scheele, Justin S. Feinstein, Holger Gerhardt, Sabrina Strang, Wolfgang Maier and René Hurlemann PNAS 2017 August, 114 (35) 9314-9319. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1705853114 Edited by Bruce S. McEwen, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, and approved July 10, 2017 (received for review April 7, 2017) Article Figures & SI Authors & Info PDF Significance In the midst of rapid globalization, the peaceful coexistence of cultures requires a deeper understanding of the forces that compel prosocial behavior and thwart xenophobia. Yet, the conditions promoting such outgroup-directed altruism have not been determined. Here we report...

NASHVILLE, TN (WKRN) – A Lawrence County man was arrested after terrorizing a family and causing tremendous harm to himself while being under the influence of a dangerous drug. Deputies said Danny Hollis Jr. was smoking something called wasp, a mixture of meth and bug spray. On Monday night around 7 p.m. on Gimlet Road, deputies responded to a call about a naked man inside a house. Investigators said Hollis broke into the home, sat at the family dinner table and cut his own throat in front of four children and a mother. “This man walks in. The family is...

For years, the opioid crisis was described as one of negligence. In this narrative, doctors overprescribed pills that shouldn't have gone to patients and pharmaceutical companies overzealously promoted medications while playing down the risks. Robert Gebelhoff But new reporting demonstrates how this version, as worrying as it sounds, might understate the role of drugmakers in the opioid crisis. The Washington Post and 60 Minutes reported that some of the Drug Enforcement Administration's most experienced investigators believed criminal charges were warranted against one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world, alleging that the company, McKesson Corp., did little to prevent...

'Sadistic, cruel, beastly' cartel has influence in Texas, Minnesota, Ohio, New York, Maryland, Louisiana... ---------------------- A now-deceased drug lord of one of the world’s most vicious criminal gangs ate his victims’ flesh inside tamales, according to a Mexican reporter who claimed to have witnessed the spectacle. Los Zetas leader Heriberto Lazcano, or “El Lazca,” would have a person killed and their body cleaned and shaved before their flesh was stuffed into tamales for Lazcano’s consumption, a journalist told the Mexican publication El Blog del Narco. According to the San Antonio Express-News, the journalist claimed the drug lord would also eat...

Caption -- New research suggests people with chronic pain would rather use cannabis over their recommended medicine. Chronic pain sufferers and those taking mental health meds would rather turn to cannabis instead of their prescribed opioid medication, according to a new study. "This study is one of the first to track medical cannabis use under the new system of licensed producers, meaning that all participants had physician authorization to access cannabis in addition to their prescription medicines," says UBC Assoc. Prof. Zach Walsh, co-author of the study. The study tracked more than 250 patients with prescribed medical cannabis--people treated for...

As President Trump swears in Senator Jeff Sessions as Attorney General, Reuters reports he is signing three executive actions today, including targeting drug cartels and crimes against law enforcement. TRUMP SIGNS EXECUTIVE ACTION ON `TRANS-NATIONAL' CRIME TRUMP SIGNS EXECUTIVE ACTIONS ON CRIME AND PUBLIC SAFETY And then there is this... TRUMP SAYS SIGNING ACTION FOR DOJ TO CREATE PLAN TO STOP CRIME The 'end' of crime in America! As Bloomberg reports, President Trump signs three directives today, including one that will direct DHS and DOJ to “break the back of criminal cartels.” Trump also signs DOJ directive aimed at stopping...

Illegal drug usage soars in North Korea: 30% nationwide Kim Seong Hwan | 2016-12-06 The Database Center for North Korean Human Rights (NKDB; an NGO) hosted a seminar at the Korea Press Center to discuss illicit drug usage in North Korea. Image: Daily NK. Illicit drug distribution and consumption is pervasive across all regions of North Korea, according to new research presented by the Database Center for North Korean Human Rights (NKDB). Of particular note, it was found that a high proportion of Pyongyang residents use illicit drugs on a regular basis. Lee Gwan Hyeong, a researcher at NKDB, headed...

Immigration only made a brief cameo in Monday night’s debate, but Donald Trump managed to once again falsely connect immigrants to crime.In response to a question on race relations in America, Trump said:“We have gangs roaming the street. And in many cases, they’re illegally here, illegal immigrants. And they have guns. And they shoot people. And we have to be very strong. And we have to be very vigilant.”No matter how researchers slice the data, though, the numbers show that immigrants commit fewer crimes than native-born Americans. But that’s not good enough for Trump’s followers. They firmly believe immigrants make...

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is cutting short the sentences of 214 federal inmates, including 67 serving life sentences. The White House says it's the largest batch of commutations on a single day in more than a century. Almost all the prisoners were serving time for nonviolent drug offenses. The commutations bring to 562 the total number of sentences Obama has shortened. The White House says that's more than the past nine presidents combined. Almost 200 of those who have benefited were serving life sentences. White House counsel Neil Eggleston says Obama will continue granting clemency to more inmates...

President Barack Obama on Wednesday cut short the sentences of 214 federal inmates, including 67 life sentences, in what the White House called the largest batch of commutations on a single day in more than a century. ADVERTISEMENT Almost all the prisoners were serving time for nonviolent drug crimes, reflecting Obama's long-stated view that the U.S. needs to remedy the consequences of decades of sentencing requirements that put tens of thousands of Americans behind bars for far too long. Obama has pushed for a broader fix to criminal justice laws and has used the aggressive pace of his commutations in...

http://www.express.co.uk/news/science/688379/Breakthrough-cancer-super-drug-can-also-be-used-to-beat-ebola-and-HIV By Sean Martin 16:59, Mon, Jul 11, 2016 | UPDATED: 17:06, Mon, Jul 11, 2016 Breakthrough cancer super-drug can also be used to beat ebola and HIV The breakthrough cancer therapy could be a “universal” therapy against flu and has the ability to destroy bacteria which has been failed by traditional medicines. Scientists behind the discovery say that the drug works by hurting the engine of viruses and cancers in cells while not affecting the rest of the body. The drug, known as AR-12, is now being brought to the UK by a pharmaceutical company for clinical trials against...

Drug addicts in jail cells and dealers' bodies littering the streets: 60,000 people turn themselves in to authorities in the Philippines after the president tells citizens to 'go ahead and kill' drug users Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte, dubbed 'The Punisher', has waged a war on drugs throughout the country After winning elections in May this year he has urged citizens to kill suspected drug users and dealers Police have confirmed killing more than 110 drug suspects since the president came to power Communications Office Secretary Martin Andanar said 60,000 drug dependents have surrendered to authorities By Max Margan and Nelson...

Human rights campaigners warn action is needed to stop use of unlicensed drugs or other legally unsatisfactory methodsHuman rights groups have welcomed news that pharmaceutical firm Pfizer is to block the sale of its drugs in the US to perform executions, but warned that legally dubious alternatives could take their place. All companies licensed by the US government to manufacture drugs for state executions have now blocked their use in lethal injections. Pfizer’s withdrawal follows a campaign targeting pharmaceutical companies and their shareholders. The company said: “Pfizer makes its products to enhance and save the lives of the patients we...

CLEVELAND — In the operating room at the Cleveland Clinic, Dr. Brian Fitzsimons has long relied on a decades-old drug to prevent hemorrhages in patients undergoing open-heart surgery. The drug, aminocaproic acid, is widely used, cheap and safe. “It never hurt,” he said. “It only helps.” Then manufacturing issues caused a national shortage. “We essentially did military-style triage,” said Dr. Fitzsimons, an anesthesiologist, restricting the limited supply to patients at the highest risk of bleeding complications. Those who do not get the once-standard treatment at the clinic, the nation’s largest cardiac center, are not told. “The patient is asleep,” he...

COLUMBIA, SC (WIS-TV) - Two concealed weapons holders who were victims of an armed robbery at a Columbia barbershop shot and killed one of the suspects on Friday night. The Colombia Police Department responded to an armed robbery call at "Next Up Barber and Beauty" in the 4400 block of Fort Jackson Blvd shortly before 7 p.m. Several people, including children, were inside the business when two armed men wearing masks demanded and stole money from them. Two of the victims with valid concealed weapons permits shot at both suspects, hitting one of them. The wounded suspect ran from the...

When the news broke on Monday, Dec. 7 that Jimmy Carter, who recently disclosed he had a serious and likely-fatal form of cancer, suddenly had 'no evidence of cancer,' Carter-watchers went a little crazy. Some people, of course, were thrilled to hear that the former U.S. president was no longer at death's door. Others, especially strong pro-Israel activists were aghast when they read in a widely-circulated news article, that Keytruda, the drug credited for Carter's health turnaround, was developed in Israel. Carter is widely-reviled as a virulent and relentless basher of Israel. A 2014 article in YNet described Keytruda as...

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Reddell Smith spent a decade roaming the streets of Syracuse with the 110 Gang, where he dealt drugs, shot at rivals and stole a car at gunpoint. When he was arrested, Smith possessed a 9mm handgun that had been used in 12 shootings. His life as a gangster ended in 2011, when he was sentenced to 8 years and 4 months in prison .... But now Smith and 46 other convicted Upstate New York drug dealers -- some of them members of violent gangs --have seen their sentences cut short as part of a federal initiative to...