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Chalfonte LeNee Queen of San Diego grappled with violent vomiting episodes for 17 years until she found out her illness was related to her marijuana use. For 17 years, Chalfonte LeNee Queen suffered periodic episodes of violent retching and abdominal pain that would knock her off her feet for days, sometimes leaving her writhing on the floor in pain. "I've screamed out for death," says Queen, 48, who lives in San Diego. "I've cried out for my mom, who's been dead for 20 years, mentally not realizing she can't come to me." Queen lost a modeling job after being...

When it comes to altered states of consciousness, humans are nothing if not inventive. A number of new synthetic drugs, opiate painkillers and other substances have emerged recently as increasingly popular among partygoers and drug addicts. And some of these substances are alarming health experts and law enforcement officials. Here's a look at five of the most potent of these street drugs. SNIP 2C-P A little-known synthetic hallucinogen with only a brief history of use, 2C-P is reportedly a long-lasting and very potent drug. Its intense psychedelic effects don't begin until a few hours after a person takes it, but...

Cannabis decriminalization measures across the United States, including the medical use of marijuana in California, have been sharply criticized by the United Nations, which has warned Washington they violate the international drug conventions. The International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), which polices the drug treaties, has also warned about the growing public health threat from the “unprecedented surge” in “legal highs” and called for concerted global action to curb the growing trade. … The INCB has warned the US government that medical cannabis must be properly regulated. “In some US states, they are being operated in a way that is completely...

In an attempt to lower crime and raise government revenue, Uruguay is planning on legalizing marijuana. Currently, it is legal to possess less than 25 grams of cannabis, but it is illegal to grow or sell it. If the proposal passes, Uruguay’s government would oversee the growth and distribution of the $75 million business. Buyers would be required to register with the government. “It’s a fight on both fronts: against consumption and drug trafficking,” said defense minister Eleuterio Fernandez Huidobro. “We think the prohibition of certain drugs is creating more problems for society than the drugs themselves.” Congress must approve...

Notice the difference - Having an affair, while not a nice thing to do to your spouse, is not illegal, you don't get arrested or go to jail. Smoking crack IS illegal, a felony in fact, if caught you DO get arrested and go to jail. Yet the media obsesses about Herman Cain's affairs and proclaims them reason to disqualify him from being President - yet the same media didn't utter ONE PEEP about Obama's hard-drug use during the 2008 election - and still won't. AND BY THE WAY, Obama violated TWO federal drug laws - not just for using,...

...Portugal, which in 2001 became the first European country to officially abolish all criminal penalties for personal possession of drugs, including marijuana, cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine. At the recommendation of a national commission charged with addressing Portugal's drug problem, jail time was replaced with the offer of therapy. The argument was that the fear of prison drives addicts underground and that incarceration is more expensive than treatment — so why not give drug addicts health services instead? .....At the time, critics in the poor, largely Catholic nation said decriminalizing drug possession would open the country to "drug tourists" and exacerbate...

"We've become mad in our pursuit of drug-law violations," he said. "Generations to come will look back and scarcely believe what we've done to sick people."

Wisconsin Congressman F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. has come under fire for second-guessing a federal appeals court ruling in a Chicago drug case. In a letter to the chief judge of the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, Sensenbrenner said a low-level drug dealer should have gotten 10 years in prison instead of just more than eight. While critics say the letter was bizarre, misguided and ethically questionable, a spokesman for Sensenbrenner says the eight-year sentence was illegal and the Menomonee Falls Republican was simply doing his job as chairman of the House Judiciary Committee The letter, the contents of which...

Associate professor of history John French was arrested Friday on drug-related charges. French and his wife were charged with maintaining a house for selling marijuana after the couple's son allegedly sold the substance to a police officer. Their son was also charged with possession of other drugs. Neither the University nor the Department of History would comment on the matter. French, who has worked at the University for 12 years, could not be reached for comment. The University's personnel policy manual states: "Employees as citizens are responsible for knowing about and complying with the provisions of state and federal law...

John Kerry, Howard Glicken, Steve Foster and campaign contributions: Washington Justice! As we noted previously, Senator Kerry accepted contributions from a company (Miami-based Metalbanc) that was indicted for violating drug money laundering and asset forfeiture laws. If that isn't bad enough, it came at a time when Kerry chaired a Senate subcommittee...investigating companies that violated money laundering laws! AP reported that the Kerry "only" received $1,000 in 1987, but opensecrets.org shows that Kerry received donations throughout the 1990s from this company and I discovered that he continues to receive contributions from the company founder even today. Moreover, the charges against...

Our either-or cultural template has come to an unattractive head during the recent Gay Moment, as these days are being dubbed. Of course we've already named it. We can't just let an epic or a decade or a moment slip by without a title. A label. A category. Labeling, in fact, is one of our favorite things in compulsive, either/or America. As in, you're either for us or against us. You're either from Mars or from Venus. You're either pro-gay marriage - or you're a right-wing, fascist, dogmatic homophobe. Well, no, not really. Sometimes you're not a homophobe, but you...

Camera's first catch gets felony drug charge As Marcus D. Jackson smoked dope in a blue Chevy Caprice, he had no idea anyone was watching, police say. But about a block away, officers were monitoring his every move on a surveillance camera set up at Augusta and Pulaski to target crimes both serious and minor that bring down the neighborhood's quality of life. When they swooped in and arrested Jackson, the officers allegedly found $20 worth of pot and Ecstasy, a so-called "club drug," valued at $60. The 1:30 a.m. Saturday bust was the first one for Operation Disruption, which...

Is It A Fundamental Constitutional Right To Have Sex With Children, Too? By Lowell Phillips Tuesday July 8, 2003 Toogood Reports "This is a glorious and beautiful time to be queer." Don't start hammering out the hate mail just yet. Those aren't my words, but those of a bona fide "gay rights" activist. Amid the orgy of celebration (pun intended) following the Supreme Court's 6-3 ruling in Lawrence v. Texas, striking down sodomy laws, Molly McKay, spokeswoman for Marriage Equality California proclaimed, "This month has been filled with hope... This is a glorious and beautiful time to be queer." Few...

Spurred on by the Supreme Court's landmark ruling decriminalizing gay sexual conduct, both sides in the debate over gay rights are vowing an intense state-by-state fight over deeply polarizing questions, foremost among them whether gays should be allowed to marry. Even with most legislatures out of session until early next year, lively debates are already taking shape across the country, from Hawaii to Connecticut, Oregon to Alabama to Massachusetts. Potentially fierce battles over marriage and other rights loom in dozens of statehouses and state courts, as social conservatives — including the Senate majority leader, Bill Frist of Tennessee — try...

You may not know how the town of Springfield, home to the Simpsons, was founded. In the late 1790s Jebediah Springfield and his partner Shelbyville Manhattan led a group of pioneers across the country to start a new community. They finally stopped at a beautiful spot atop a hill looking down on a lush valley: Jebediah: People, our search is over! On this site we shall build a new town where we can worship freely, govern justly, and grow vast fields of hemp for making rope and blankets. Shelbyville: Yes, and marry our cousins.Jebediah: I was — what are...

"Polygamy is the next civil-rights battle." That's the new battle cry of proponents of "Christian polygamy" who say their lifestyle is one step closer to being accepted after the Supreme Court's controversial decision last week invalidating state sodomy laws. A website set up for media to get information about the pro-polygamy movement enthusiastically hails the Lawrence v. Texas decision, quoting from the majority opinion that Americans now have "... the full right to engage in private conduct without government intervention." As WorldNetDaily reported, critics of the decision believe the court has usurped the role of lawmakers, establishing a far-reaching precedent...

Men whose sodomy case led to Supreme Court ruling keep low profile BY BRUCE NICHOLS The Dallas Morning News HOUSTON - (KRT) - The two men whose appeal led the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Texas' sodomy law have been invisible warriors, making brief appearances at the courthouse but otherwise working with their lawyers to keep their lives secret. Until Thursday's ruling, the public view of Tyron Garner, 35, who was unemployed when arrested in 1998, and John Geddes Lawrence, 59, a longtime medical technologist, consisted of a brief TV news clip in which they decried their arrest. Garner and...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Republican leader of the U.S. Senate said on Sunday he supported a constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage. Reuters Photo Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist expressed concern about the Supreme Court's decision last week to strike down a Texas sodomy law. He said he supported an amendment that would reserve marriage for relationships between men and women. "I very much feel that marriage is a sacrament, and that sacrament should extend and can extend to that legal entity of a union between, what is traditionally in our Western values has been defined, as between a...

BLAME THE GOP FOR PRO-SODOMY COURT DECISION By: Reed R. Heustis, Jr. June 27, AD 2003 With one stroke of the pen, [homosexuality] has triumphed at the Supreme Court. And guess what? Republican-appointed Justices are to blame. With a convincing 6-3 decision in Lawrence v. Texas, the United States Supreme Court on June 26 overturned a 1986 case, Bowers v. Hardwick, which had upheld the legitimacy of an anti-sodomy law. Sodomites and perverts all across America are hailing the Lawrence decision as the biggest gay rights victory in our nation's history. Mitchell Katine, the openly gay attorney representing John Lawrence...

<p>SAN FRANCISCO  — Days after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down laws against sodomy, Gay Pride parades (search) around the country offered gays and lesbians a chance to celebrate an historic victory they hope marks a new era of equality and respect.</p>