Free Republic

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...

A friend's military husband just got popped for smoking weed. I know the policy before the war was pretty severe for first-time users (primarily discharge) but I do not know if this has changed since the war started. BTW, this guy had a pretty hard time in country and has been back all of 6-7 months. Not sure if that would have any bearing on how they are processed, but it might. Your help would be appreciated - I do some pastoral counseling on the side and would like to be somewhat current as I believe this could be a...

Move over drug-sniffing dogs. Now Palm Beach County school officials are using aerosol sprays and paper swabs to quickly weed out high school students on dope. Administrators at all 23 county high schools are being trained to use a new drug test whenever they have a "reasonable suspicion" that a student is using illegal drugs, based on appearance or bad behavior, said schools Police Chief Jim Kelly. The school district is one of 22 across the country, and the only one in Florida, taking part in a free trial program that puts the drug detection kits in schools. It's supported...

(Greenville SC-AP) Feb. 20, 2004 - A man who has spent years selling urine on the Internet was sent to prison Friday. Kenneth Curtis will spend six months behind bars for his December 2001 conviction for selling urine. Curtis had been out on $30,000 bond as he appealed the state Supreme Court's decision last month to uphold his conviction. It was the same court that ruled a law banning urine sales was legal. Curtis has said he sold the kits because he thinks workplace drug testing is a violation of individual privacy rights. The state's highest court said the public...

'Whizzinator' Gets Texas Men in Trouble By BETSY BLANEY, Associated Press Writer LUBBOCK, Texas - Some West Texas men on probation are in trouble again, this time for using the Whizzinator to help them pass court-ordered urinalysis tests. In the past six months, five men on probation were caught using a realistic-looking prosthetic that dispenses synthetic, drug-free urine, Lubbock County sheriff's officials said. One was caught by an alert officer who heard something unusual in the restroom. "A body part when it's up against a plastic cup isn't going to go 'clink,'" [QUOTE O' THE DAY] said Tom Madigan, interim...