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End Times Sorceries And Debautry

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March 27, 2024, 12:55:24 pm Mark says: Shocked Shocked Shocked Shocked  When Hamas spokesman Abu Ubaida began a speech marking the 100th day of the war in Gaza, one confounding yet eye-opening proclamation escaped the headlines. Listing the motives for the Palestinian militant group's Oct. 7 massacre in Israel, he accused Jews of "bringing red cows" to the Holy Land.
December 31, 2022, 10:08:58 am NilsFor1611 says: blessings
August 08, 2018, 02:38:10 am suzytr says: Hello, any good churches in the Sacto, CA area, also looking in Reno NV, thanks in advance and God Bless you Smiley
January 29, 2018, 01:21:57 am Christian40 says: It will be interesting to see what happens this year Israel being 70 years as a modern nation may 14 2018
October 17, 2017, 01:25:20 am Christian40 says: It is good to type Mark is here again!  Smiley
October 16, 2017, 03:28:18 am Christian40 says: anyone else thinking that time is accelerating now? it seems im doing days in shorter time now is time being affected in some way?
September 24, 2017, 10:45:16 pm Psalm 51:17 says: The specific rule pertaining to the national anthem is found on pages A62-63 of the league rulebook. It states: “The National Anthem must be played prior to every NFL game, and all players must be on the sideline for the National Anthem. “During the National Anthem, players on the field and bench area should stand at attention, face the flag, hold helmets in their left hand, and refrain from talking. The home team should ensure that the American flag is in good condition. It should be pointed out to players and coaches that we continue to be judged by the public in this area of respect for the flag and our country. Failure to be on the field by the start of the National Anthem may result in discipline, such as fines, suspensions, and/or the forfeiture of draft choice(s) for violations of the above, including first offenses.”
September 20, 2017, 04:32:32 am Christian40 says: "The most popular Hepatitis B vaccine is nothing short of a witch’s brew including aluminum, formaldehyde, yeast, amino acids, and soy. Aluminum is a known neurotoxin that destroys cellular metabolism and function. Hundreds of studies link to the ravaging effects of aluminum. The other proteins and formaldehyde serve to activate the immune system and open up the blood-brain barrier. This is NOT a good thing."
http://www.naturalnews.com/2017-08-11-new-fda-approved-hepatitis-b-vaccine-found-to-increase-heart-attack-risk-by-700.html
September 19, 2017, 03:59:21 am Christian40 says: bbc international did a video about there street preaching they are good witnesses
September 14, 2017, 08:06:04 am Psalm 51:17 says: bro Mark Hunter on YT has some good, edifying stuff too.
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Psalm 51:17
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« Reply #150 on: January 22, 2015, 08:04:38 pm »

Not a fan of Ruckman - but in this 1 minute video, he makes a very, very good point with this scripture.

1Timothy 5:23  Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake and thine often infirmities.



Not a fan of Ruckman - but in this 1 minute video, he makes a very, very good point with this scripture.

1Timothy 5:23  Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake and thine often infirmities.
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« Reply #151 on: January 23, 2015, 06:43:39 am »

In my opinion technology, especially modern bio technology, is a form of enchantment, witchcraft and sorcery. Much of this junk, so easily accepted by religious people will come under judgement and condemnation. I believe this with all my heart.
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« Reply #152 on: February 24, 2015, 07:54:17 pm »

http://news.yahoo.com/alaska-becomes-3rd-state-legal-marijuana-230029888.html
2/24/15
Alaska becomes 3rd state with legal marijuana

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Smoking, growing and possessing marijuana becomes legal in America's wildest state Tuesday, thanks to a voter initiative aimed at clearing away 40 years of conflicting laws and court rulings.

Making Alaska the third state to legalize recreational marijuana was the goal of a coalition including libertarians, rugged individualists and small-government Republicans who prize the privacy rights enshrined in the state's constitution.

But when they voted 53-47 percent last November to legalize marijuana use by adults in private places, they left many of the details to lawmakers and regulators to sort out.

Meanwhile, Alaska Native leaders worry that legalization will bring new temptations to communities already confronting high rates of drug and alcohol abuse, domestic violence and suicide.

"When they start depending on smoking marijuana, I don't know how far they'd go to get the funds they need to support it, to support themselves," said Edward Nick, council member in Manokotak, a remote village of 400 that is predominantly Yup'ik Eskimo.


Both alcohol and drug use are prohibited in Nick's village 350 miles southwest of Anchorage, even inside the privacy of villagers' homes.

But Nick fears that the initiative, in combination with a 1975 state Supreme Court decision that legalized marijuana use inside homes — could open doors to drug abuse.

Initiative backers promised Native leaders that communities could still have local control under certain conditions. Alaska law gives every community the option to regulate alcohol locally. From northern Barrow to Klawock, 1,291 miles away in southeast Alaska, 108 communities impose local limits on alcohol, and 33 of them ban it altogether.

But the initiative did not provide clear opt-out language for tribal councils and other smaller communities, forcing each one to figure out how to proceed Tuesday.

November's initiative also bans smoking in public, but didn't define what that means, and lawmakers left the question to the alcohol regulatory board, which planned to meet early Tuesday to discuss an emergency response.

In Anchorage, Alaska's largest city, officials tried and failed in December to ban a new commercial marijuana industry. But Police Chief Mark Mew said his officers will be strictly enforcing the public smoking ban. He even warned people against smoking on their porches if they live next to a park.

Other officials are still discussing a proposed cultivation ban for the wild Kenai Peninsula. But far to the north, in North Pole, smoking outdoors on private property will be OK as long as it doesn't create a nuisance, officials there said.

While the 1975 court decision protected personal marijuana possession and a 1998 initiative legalized medicinal marijuana, state lawmakers twice criminalized any possession over the years, creating an odd legal limbo.

As of Tuesday, adult Alaskans can not only keep and use pot, they can transport, grow it and give it away. A second phase, creating a regulated and taxed marijuana market, won't start until 2016 at the earliest.

And while possession is no longer a crime under state law, enjoying pot in public can bring a $100 fine.

That's fine with Dean Smith, a pot-smoker in Juneau who has friends in jail for marijuana offenses. "It's going to stop a lot of people getting arrested for nonviolent crimes," he said.

The initiative's backers warned pot enthusiasts to keep their cool.

"Don't do anything to give your neighbors reason to feel uneasy about this new law. We're in the midst of an enormous social and legal shift," organizers wrote in the Alaska Dispatch News, the state's largest newspaper.

Richard Ziegler, who had been promoting what he called "Idida-toke" in a nod to Alaska's Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, reluctantly called off his party.

There's no such pullback for former television reporter Charlo Greene, now CEO of the Alaska Cannabis Club, which is having its grand opening on Tuesday in downtown Anchorage. She's already pushing the limits, promising to give away weed to paying "medical marijuana" patients and other "club members."

Greene — who quit her job with a four-letter walkoff on live television last year to devote her efforts to passing the initiative — plans a celebratory toke at 4:20 p.m.
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« Reply #153 on: February 28, 2015, 08:02:38 am »

Sex Box

ABOUT THE SHOW

Sex Box is a groundbreaking, unprecedented and life-changing way for couples in crisis to heal their sexual and emotional issues. Each week three couples from a wide variety of backgrounds bring their pressing concerns to our expert therapists with hopes of repairing their troubled relationships. Our experts – Dr. Chris Donaghue, Sexologist and Clinical Psychotherapist; Dr. Fran Walfish, Relationship Psychotherapist and Dr. Yvonne Capehart, Pastor and Couples Counselor – offer frank advice that is designed to change lives. The theory behind the Sex Box is based on a revolutionary, scientifically proven concept: In the first 15 minutes after intimacy, the body is flooded with oxytocins and endorphins enabling people to really open up and reveal the root of their problems. Our couples have sex on stage in front of live studio audience in a specially designed chamber – the Sex Box. The Sex Box is private, camera free and sound proof. It allows couples to focus on one another and their needs with no outside distractions. And when they emerge, the truth is shared. Out of the Box television. 34 couples on a healing journey. Three experts with provocative advice: Sex Box.


http://www.wetv.com/shows/sex-box/about
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« Reply #154 on: March 01, 2015, 03:26:40 am »

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« Reply #155 on: March 07, 2015, 04:39:03 pm »

A majority favors marijuana legalization for first time, according to nation’s most authoritative survey
3/4/15
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2015/03/04/majority-of-americans-favor-marijuana-legalization-for-first-time-according-to-the-nations-most-authoritative-survey/

For the first time, the General Social Survey -- a large, national survey conducted every two years and widely considered to represent the gold standard for public opinion research -- shows a majority of Americans favoring the legalization of marijuana.

In interviews conducted between March and October of last year -- when the legal marijuana markets in Colorado and Washington were ramping up -- researchers asked 1,687 respondents the following question: "Do you think the use of marijuana should be made legal or not?"

Fifty-two percent said pot should be legalized, 42 percent opposed it, and another 7 percent were undecided. Support is up 9 percentage points from 2012, the last time the survey was conducted.

The GSS marijuana numbers trace the trajectory of U.S. drug policy over the past 40 years. In 1974, a year after the Shafer Commission recommended removing marijuana from Schedule 1 of the Controlled Substances Act, public support for full legalization stood at 19 percent. Support rose through the 1970s, reaching nearly 30 percent in 1978, only to plummet during the Reagan years, "Just Say No" and the advent of the drug war.

The year 1990 represented the nadir of legalization support, when it stood at 16 percent. But the numbers rose steadily through the 1990s as states began adopting medical marijuana laws, starting with California in 1996. As recently as 2006, support stood only at 32 percent -- just a little bit higher than the previous peak in 1978. In the fewer than 10 years since then, support has jumped 20 percentage points -- mirroring, in many ways, the dramatic shift in public opinion on gay marriage over the same period.

Legalization supporters have been able to capitalize on that energy and secure full legalization in four states, with a partial legal status in DC similar to the Schafer Commission's original recommendation. Opponents have scrambled to catch up, but the sharp and sustained increase in public opinion means they're facing an uphill battle. That fact that they've been drastically outspent at every turn -- partially a reflection of greater public support for the pro-legalization camp -- hasn't helped things.

Still, after repeated losses at the ballot box legalization opponents are now turning toward the courts. The attorneys general of Nebraska and Oklahoma have filed suit against Colorado. Former DEA administrators and a DC-based tough-on-crime group advocating for harsher prison sentences have also rallied to the cause. Additional state-level lawsuits may be coming soon.

For a public increasingly weary of the toll of decades of costly and ineffective drug policies, these cases will be a tough sell. Younger Americans -- including Republican ones -- overwhelmingly favor marijuana legalization. And after a year of legal pot, Colorado doesn't appear to be experiencing buyer's remorse. A recent Quinnipiac poll found that 58 percent of Colorado's voters said they supported the state's marijuana law -- slightly more than the 55 percent who approved it in 2012.

The strong numbers in the latest General Social Survey indicate that the issue isn't losing salience with the public. At the national level, support for legal marijuana remains robust -- and doesn't show signs of wavering any time soon.
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« Reply #156 on: March 07, 2015, 11:14:40 pm »

As you all know, recently I've been posting sermons from Grace Bible (House)Church(Troy Dukes is the pastor). Every now and then, he will have fellowship interactions with the BOC, where we can ask him questions.

Philippians 4:5  Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.

I asked him whether moderation applies to thinks like drinking liquor and pot smoking, here is his response...

Quote
In this passage it is describing your Christian modesty.  Not like in clothing, but like in restraint of our passions and being free of excesses.  First, this must be talking about things lawful,  for even the slightest indulgence of that which is unlawful is forbidden.  Second, it is to be known of all men.  Now Christians are not to brag, but this is something we should be sure to show.  that is, be sure to publicly demonstrate that you are not about public demonstration and show.  That is paradoxical.  Have no interest in showing off, and let that be obvious, with a right spirit.  Now, as for alcohol and pot.  These thing do not fall under the lawful that can be abused, such as food, sleep, money, possessions.  they fall under the category of what is forbidden, therefore, there can be no moderate use of the thingFor it is out of the reach of the rule of moderation.  If we have a heart for God, we will not use His rules which protect us from getting addicted to good things, to permit ourselves the license to use the forbidden things that are addictive.
I hope that helps,
Pastor Dukes
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« Reply #157 on: March 11, 2015, 11:40:09 am »

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/ireland-has-accidentally-legalised-ecstasy--ketamine-and-crystal-meth-for-one-day-only-172345414.html?soc_src=mail&soc_trk=ma
3/10/15
Ireland has accidentally legalised ecstasy, ketamine and crystal meth for one day only

Ecstasy, ketamine, and hundreds of other drugs are currently legal in Ireland for one day only thanks to an accidental loophole in the law, The Journal reports.

Ireland's 1977 Misuse of Drugs Act was found unconstitutional by the Irish Court of Appeal on Tuesday morning — meaning that the drugs currently prohibited in it are legal.

Drugs that are currently legal in Ireland reportedly include ecstasy, crystal meth and ketamine. So-called 'legal highs' are also no longer prohibited, along with more than 100 other drugs, according to News Talk.

Heroin, **** and cannabis are not affected.

The Irish government is now preparing emergency legislation to fix this loophole. But despite sitting late tonight to do so, the law "can only take effect on the day after its signed into law," according to The Journal, meaning ecstasy will remain legal in Ireland until 12AM Thursday at the earliest.

The Irish government has released a statement admitting that while it "does not affect existing laws regarding the supply, possession or sale" of heroin, **** and cannabis, "it does affect the possession of certain newer psychoative substances."

Opportunistic drug dealers should still be wary, however. "We are advised that the sale and supply of psychoative substances remains an offence under existing legislation," the statement adds.

Here's the full statement:

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« Reply #158 on: March 12, 2015, 02:25:43 pm »

Florida City Yanks Tax-Exempt Status from ‘Church’ Running ‘Sexy’ Spring Break Nightclub

Officials with a Florida city has revoked the local tax-exempt status from a so-called church that has been running what the city deems a sexually-charged nightclub during Spring Break.

“It’s very disturbing, especially inside our city limits here in Bay County,” Panama City Beach Police Chief Drew Whitman told reporters this week. “I think we’re better than that.”

The Life Center Church, run by leader Markus Bishop, has been hosting “Spring Break Amnesia” at its facility since late February, featuring events and merchandise that even the local authorities have found to be shocking for a place of worship.

“A bottle club, charging $20 at the door and selling obscene T-shirts is not being used as a church,” Property Appraiser Dan Sowell told the Panama City News Herald. “A God-fearing, God-honoring church in January does not sponsor this type of debauchery in March.”

The website for Spring Break Amnesia advertises an “Anything But Clothes” painting party, a Mardis Gras bead-throwing event, and a “Wet and Wild” party complete with twerking–a sexually-suggestive dance perhaps made most popular in recent years by pop star Miley Cyrus.
Example of original posting just days ago.

Example of original posting just days ago.

“‘Slumber’ is a pajama and lingerie party hosted by the sexiest ladies on the beach,” the site’s event description read just three days ago. “‘Anything But Clothes’ showcases your artistic side, featuring your mind and body. How creative can you be? Bare as you dare to attend in anything but clothes (toga, body paint, etc.).”

The Spring Break Amnesia website also featured a number of t-shirts for sale, including several that featured graphics of stick figures performing sexual acts on each other, and one that read “I hate being sober.”

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Sheriff Frank McKeithen said that he went inside the facility and saw the shirts hanging up on the walls.

“You turn around and you look at the walls on the church, and you see t-shirts with graphic explicit sexual pictures on them,” he said. “I’m scratching my head. How can this be a church, and this is going on?”

But after media outlets in Panama City began to report on the matter, Life Center Church quickly revised their website and took a number of the sexually-explicit t-shirts out of the online store. As of yesterday, the word “lingerie” was removed from the slumber party description and the “Anything But Clothes” event was revised to read, “Bare as you dare to attend (toga, body paint, etc.) This is not a **** event.”
Altered description.

Altered description.

Under the Mardis Gras event, which used to read, “What will you do for your beads?” the event organizers added, “Maybe a backflip or bunny hop” to tone down the connotation.

Patrons are charged $20 to enter what is called “The Tabernacle,” which is being categorized by Life Center as a donation. But officials in Panama City state that what is going on inside of the facility is not a church and is a commercial night club enterprise. McKeithen told reporters that the property has been zoned as a church and because it has been exempt from paying property taxes for year.
Bis

Bishop

Thus, its current operations have been now deemed a violation and the facility’s tax-exempt status has been revoked. Life Center Church claims that the event is simply a part of its “youth ministry.”

According to police, leader Markus Bishop has a criminal past and is currently on probation for allegedly giving a teen marijuana and kissing her against her will. Bishop, former leader of Faith Christian Family Church, professes to be a Christian, but also dabbles with other religions.

“It’s not about what label you wear or title you carry, it’s about what goes on inside you,” he said in 2013. “I am a follower of Jesus. I practice … Buddhism. I am a student of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and I am a student in miracles and more than anything I am passionate about a path of reality that manifests in love and peace.”

“But he’s not the only one out there with a criminal record that’s running a enterprise like this, but he’s the only one out there flying under the colors of a church that’s doing this, and that’s very disturbing to me,” McKeithen said.

http://christiannews.net/2015/03/12/florida-city-yanks-tax-exempt-status-from-church-running-sexy-spring-break-nightclub/
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« Reply #159 on: March 16, 2015, 01:52:31 pm »

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/aging-baby-boomers-bring-drug-012400448.html?soc_src=mail&soc_trk=ma
Aging baby boomers bring drug habits into middle age
3/16/15

UPLAND, Calif.—From the time he was a young man coming of age in the 1970s, Mike Massey could have served as a poster child for his generation, the baby boomers. He grew his hair long to the dismay of his father, surfed, played in rock bands and says he regularly got high on marijuana and ****.

The wild times receded as he grew older. In his 30s, he stopped using drugs altogether, rose into executive positions with the plumbers and pipe fitters union, bought a house in this Los Angeles suburb and started a family. But at age 50, Mr. Massey injured his knee running. He took Vicodin for the pain but soon started using pills heavily, mixing the opioids with alcohol, he said.

“It reminded me of getting high and getting loaded,” said Mr. Massey, now 58 years old, who went into recovery and stopped using drugs and alcohol in 2013. “Your mind never forgets that.”

Today, the story of this balding, middle-aged executive continues to reflect that of his generation.

Older adults are abusing drugs, getting arrested for drug offenses and dying from drug overdoses at increasingly higher rates. These surges have come as the 76 million baby boomers, born between 1946 and 1964, reach late middle age. Facing the pains and losses connected to aging, boomers, who as youths used drugs at the highest rates of any generation, are once again—or still—turning to drugs.

The trend has U.S. health officials worried. The sharp increase in overdose deaths among older adults in particular is “very concerning,” said Wilson Compton, deputy director for the federal government’s National Institute on Drug Abuse.

The rate of death by accidental drug overdose for people aged 45 through 64 increased 11-fold between 1990, when no baby boomers were in the age group, and 2010, when the age group was filled with baby boomers, according to an analysis of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention mortality data. That multiple of increase was greater than for any other age group in that time span.

The surge has pushed the accidental overdose rate for these late middle age adults higher than that of 25- to 44-year-olds for the first time. More than 12,000 boomers died of accidental drug overdoses in 2013, the most recent data available. That is more than the number that died that year from either car accidents or influenza and pneumonia, according to the CDC.

“Generally, we thought of older individuals of not having a risk for drug abuse and drug addiction,” Dr. Compton said. “As the baby boomers have aged and brought their habits with them into middle age, and now into older adult groups, we are seeing marked increases in overdose deaths.”

Experts say the drug problem among the elderly has been caused by the confluence of two key factors: a generation with a predilection for mind-altering substances growing older in an era of widespread opioid painkiller abuse. Pain pills follow marijuana as the most popular ways for aging boomers to get high, according to the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, which conducts an annual national survey on drug use. Opioid painkillers also are the drug most often involved in overdoses, followed by antianxiety drugs, **** and heroin.

Wall Street Journal interviews with dozens of older drug users and recovering addicts revealed an array of personal stories behind the trend. Some had used drugs their entire lives and never slowed down. Others had used drugs when they were younger, then returned to them later in life after a divorce, death in the family or job loss.

“If you have a trigger, and your youth is caught up in that Woodstock mentality, you’re going to revert back,” said Jamie Huysman, 60, clinical adviser to the senior program at Caron Treatment Centers, a residential drug treatment organization that plans to break ground this summer on a $10 million medical center in Pennsylvania catering to older adults. “We were pretty conditioned that we could be rebellious, that we could take drugs, and so this is how we respond today.”

Drug-rehabilitation programs are grappling with how to handle the boom in older patients. More than 5.7 million people over the age of 50 will need substance-abuse treatment by the year 2020, according to estimates from government researchers. Meanwhile, hospitals have seen a sharp increase in the number of older adults admitted for drug-related health problems, government statistics show.

“We’re still in the process of figuring out: How do we ensure we have a strong workforce that can address this, and the appropriate settings to address this?” said Peter Delany, director of the Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality at the Department of Health and Human Services.

Over the past decade, illicit drug use among people over 50 has increased at the same time that the rate for teens—the group that draws the most public concern when it comes to substance abuse—has declined, according to the federal government’s annual survey on drug use. A similar pattern exists for drug arrests: rates fell in nearly every younger age group in the country between 1997 and 2012, but not for those between the ages of 45 and 64.

Boomers have always ranked high on the charts that measure drug use. In 1979, high school seniors, born in 1961, set the record for self-reported illicit drug use in the past year, according to an annual national survey called Monitoring the Future. The rate of drug use among boomers has fallen significantly as the cohort has aged, but it is about triple the percentage of people in the previous generation who reported drug use in their older years.

Neil Howe, a historian and author of several books on generational trends, said that boomers have always stood out for their willingness to break with convention and take risks, which included using drugs.

“They themselves continue to behave in a less inhibited fashion even as younger generations turn away from that type of risk taking,” he said.

(Rates of major sexually transmitted diseases have also increased for people over 45 in recent years, according to the CDC.)

Rehab centers that were designed for younger people are adjusting to the new clientele. Getting rid of bunk beds, hiring more experienced addiction counselors and providing medical care on-site are some measures being taken. Amid prescription painkiller abuse, old-age aches and pains are treated with acupuncture and nonaddictive painkillers. Another change is therapy sessions that are designed for older adults.

At the Hanley Center at Origins in West Palm Beach, Fla., there is a treatment program just for baby boomers separate from both older and younger adults. They live together in the same building during their stay and attend group therapy together.

At one session, a woman who said she was an alcoholic told the dozen people sitting in a circle that she had received roses from her family that day. It made her feel guilty: “I really don’t deserve anything from them,” she said, breaking down in tears.

Deborah Christensen, a counselor and boomer herself, then led an exercise where other recovering addicts acted out the woman’s family dynamics. In the scene, her adult daughter was the voice of reason, calming the family during frequent fights over substance abuse.

The guilt from having forced adult children into that role struck a chord. “I identify,” another woman chimed in. “My ex-husband was an opiate addict, and I saw my oldest as the caretaker.”

John Dyben, who heads the boomer and older adult programs at Hanley, said that there are different barriers to getting each generation on the road to recovery. With the oldest generation, it is shame about admitting an addiction; with youth, it is a belief that they are indestructible. With boomers, he said, it is an attitude that they know all the answers and a belief that drugs aren’t necessarily a bad thing.

To that end, counselors at Hanley put less emphasis on the traditional stories about how substance abuse ruins people’s lives when treating boomers because, “for every story you’ve got, they’ve got 15 others about people who expanded their minds with drugs and then became successful CEOs,” Dr. Dyben said.

Instead, they focus on educating them about the science of addiction. They also give them a more active role in planning their own treatment.

Opiates are the drug that is most frequently landing boomers in treatment, according to federal data that tracks admissions to centers that receive some public funding. In 2012 for those aged 45-64, 36% of admissions for drugs were for heroin, with an additional 12% for opioid painkillers, followed by 22% for crack ****, and 10% for methamphetamines.

Alcohol and alcohol mixed with a secondary drug made up more than half of the overall admissions.

For Clare Mannion, 64, the trigger was looming retirement from a long career in real estate. Five years ago, Ms. Mannion said, as she settled down in Florida after a lifetime of moving around the country, “most people were saying, ‘What more do you want? Why aren’t you ready to’—the magic word—‘retire?’ ”

“What I heard, given my personality was, ‘Aren’t you ready to retire from life?’ ” she said. “Internally, I felt pretty hopeless, and what was the most easily accessible were prescription drugs and alcohol.”

Ms. Mannion said she would mix antianxiety pills known as benzodiazepines with alcohol. After two DUI arrests, Ms. Mannion landed in treatment in 2013 in a program designed for baby boomers and run by the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation in Florida. She has been clean ever since, she said. Today, she said, she feels “electrically alive.”

For older adults, the side effects of getting high can be much harsher than for younger people, experts say. As the body ages, the metabolism slows, making it harder to process drugs, said NIDA’s Dr. Compton.

The rates of hospital stays and emergency room visits for drug-related health problems have skyrocketed for older adults in the past two decades. In 2012, people between the ages of 45 and 64 had the highest rate of inpatient hospital stays for opioid overuse; two decades ago, it was those between 25 and 44, according to the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

For Mr. Massey, the Southern California executive, a near-overdose two years ago was one of the dramatic events that pushed him toward getting clean. One night, sitting on his bed after taking a cocktail of painkillers, he had a seizure and blacked out. “Next thing I know I was waking up and my wife was upset and my kids were crying and these paramedics were pumping on my chest,” he said.

Before getting hooked on pills, Mr. Massey said he thought he had left the habits of his younger days behind. Back then, in the 1970s, doing a line of **** was a pickup move at parties, and pot was plentiful. He worked as a welder in San Diego and played lead guitar in a rock band called Loose Enz. His idol was Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards. “I tried to live like I was in the Stones,” he said dryly. “I was on tour every night.”

Lucky Dare Fleming, 66, a friend who was a drummer in the band, said he didn’t realize at the time that drugs would become a serious problem for Mr. Massey. “Me, I’ve just gone along and dabbled recreationally,” said Mr. Fleming. “It was a little more alluring to Mike, and he had to get away from it.”

Mr. Massey’s late father, George, was a World War II vet, a tough steward in the plumbers and pipe fitters union, and a heavy drinker, said his son, who recalls him carrying his union contract, a half-pint of whiskey and a pistol in his lunch pail.

A knee injury, and pills

After getting clean, Mr. Massey said he came to realize that he had been harboring deep shame about not being strong or tough enough his whole life, and that a violent childhood had affected him more deeply than he knew. He grew up in hardscrabble neighborhoods, carried weapons to school and fought frequently. But he doesn’t like to cast blame for his drug use, saying, “I never put anything in my body against my will.”

After he stopped using drugs—which included a stint with meth in his late 20s—for the first time, his career took off: At age 35, he was promoted to a leadership position at a Los Angeles-based trust fund that represents the interests of unions and union contractors in the plumbing and piping industry. He met his wife, Dena, bought a home in the suburbs and had two children.

Then eight years ago, while exercising to lose weight, he aggravated an old knee injury and took a few Vicodin pills from a friend for the pain. A day later, he took a handful.

“I thought, no big deal—my knee hurts and they’re prescription drugs,” he said. “The fact of the matter was I was abusing them the second day I had them.”

After surgeries to repair his knee and an arm he also injured, prescriptions brought him a steady supply of pain pills. He would down about 40 every day while drinking heavily. By that time, he had become executive director of the trust fund and several associated businesses, an organization known as the PIPE Group, which employs more than 200 people across the country. It was a stressful job probably better done by two people, said Sid Stolper, Mr. Massey’s boss for 21 years.

After Mr. Massey got, in his own words, “blasted” at work on pills and alcohol, Mr. Stolper called a meeting and delivered an ultimatum: Get clean or you’re fired.

“He is a very valued employee and does a lot for the organization,” said Mr. Stolper. “He was worth the effort of saving.”

At first, Mr. Massey resisted. But after detoxing for two weeks at home, he entered a two-week recovery program in San Diego. The center’s president, Tom Horvath, is a seminal figure in a rehabilitation movement called SMART Recovery, a secular, cognitive-behavioral-therapy based alternative to the 12-step approach. Mr. Massey now leads an online SMART Recovery group, and he is back at his job.

Talking about his generation, Mr. Massey said: “What I suspect is, we know how to get high; we know the sensation. In a broad sense, once you’ve been there, it’s easier to get back into it.”
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« Reply #160 on: March 22, 2015, 11:48:39 pm »

http://news.yahoo.com/sex-assault-drinking-push-colleges-moment-reckoning-161300374.html
3/22/15
Sex assault, drinking push colleges to moment of reckoning

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — On college campuses nationwide, the intertwined problems of sexual assault and alcohol are under intense scrutiny as students increasingly speak up and the federal government cracks down. Pushed to a collective moment of reckoning, colleges and universities are trying a slew of solutions focused on education, environment and enforcement.

At the University of Virginia, a social network will connect female freshmen with older mentors. Brown University hopes to make it easier for women to report sexual assault. In New Hampshire, Dartmouth College has banned hard liquor and plans to take the unusual step of completely overhauling its housing system.

At Dartmouth, where a committee spent nine months researching high-risk drinking, sexual assault and a general lack of community on campus, no one solution stood out.

"I was hopeful that they would find some campus that had really unlocked the secret, but what they found is that every campus is suffering from these issues and struggling with these issues," Dartmouth President Philip Hanlon said.

Even as administrators implement changes, new incidents have cropped up. A Penn State fraternity is accused of posting photos of **** women, some apparently unconscious, on a private Facebook page. The University of Wisconsin-Madison terminated a fraternity chapter last week after an investigation found it engaged in hazing that included excessive underage drinking and sexualized conduct.

At the University of Virginia, social activities at fraternities were suspended after the November publication of a Rolling Stone article describing a gang-**** at a fraternity. Though much of the article was later discredited, the school lifted the suspension only after Greek organizations agreed to new rules banning kegs, requiring security workers and ensuring at least three fraternity members are sober.

The university also is considering new courses on safety and a research institute on violence, and a group of administrators, faculty members, students and others will make recommendations next month on changing the university's culture with regard to alcohol and sexual assault.

In Rhode Island, where Brown University students recently protested the handling of a female student's drugging and sexual assault allegations, a task force on sexual assault is expected to release its final report this month. The university has begun implementing some recommendations made in December, including handling complaints more quickly and reducing the "traumatic nature" of the process.

Dartmouth last year overhauled its policies to include harsher sanctions for sexual assault and it is developing a four-year, mandatory sexual violence prevention program. On the fraternity front, it plans to require all student organizations, including fraternities and sororities, to undergo annual reviews to ensure they are being inclusive and diversifying their membership.

But going further, Dartmouth is literally changing how students live. Starting with the class of 2019, each incoming student will be assigned to one of six "house communities" — a cluster of residence halls that will serve as a home base for social and academic programs. Each community will have a professor in residence and dedicated space for academic and social interaction.

In recommending the house system, Hanlon's committee faulted the school for failing to invest in residential life over the years and creating a void that was largely filled by the Greek system.

Dartmouth joins a small but growing number of U.S. colleges and universities that have embraced the "residential college" model, which typically involves small, faculty-led communities that include students from various years and backgrounds. The concept goes back centuries in England, but only about 30 U.S. schools have at least one residential college, the vast majority of them created for reasons unrelated to the challenges that led to Dartmouth's decision.

Rice University in Texas, which started its residential college system in 1957, randomly assigns every student to one of 11 colleges. Mixing freshmen in with upperclassmen helps transfer traditions and standards of behavior, and having separate governing systems for each college makes them "incubators of problem-solving," said John Hutchinson, dean of undergraduates.

For example, when the university wanted to tackle alcohol abuse several years ago, he said, it gathered together residential college leaders, who then strongly recommended a ban on hard alcohol.

Dartmouth's plans are largely an experiment. No one has specifically studied whether residential colleges make for safer campuses, and like Dartmouth, a handful of schools with residential college systems are under investigation by the Department of Education for how they handle sexual assault and harassment.

But administrators and students say that such systems can help schools deal with problems better.

Tennessee's Vanderbilt University, where two former football players were recently convicted of raping an unconscious student in June 2013, opened 10 residential colleges for freshmen in 2008 and two more for older students last fall.

Cynthia Cyrus, provost for learning and residential affairs, said that there have been fewer reports of "extreme behaviors" from the two new colleges compared with traditional housing, and that students living in the freshmen houses and the new colleges more often have what she calls "the difficult conversations" about ****, religion and other issues.

Sophomore Vivek Shah is a resident adviser in Vanderbilt's Moore College, where two dormitories are connected by a central area that includes classrooms, conference rooms, and space for eating and studying. Thanks to his fellow residents, he has enjoyed women's soccer games, theater performances and concerts he otherwise would have skipped.

"Living with students not only of both genders but different grade levels and different experiences has really shown me that there is more to campus than just what I do," he said.

At Dartmouth, nearly 90 percent of students live on campus, but many switch rooms multiple times a year and treat their residence halls like hotels, returning only to sleep and do laundry.

In contrast, Rice senior Ravi Sheth says he felt at home before he even enrolled when he visited one of the residential colleges as a high school student. That sense of community was a main factor in his decision to attend the university, he said.

"It gives students a lot of control," he said, "over the environment in which they live."
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« Reply #161 on: April 03, 2015, 05:44:32 am »

First Church of Cannabis Approved in Indiana

Indiana will soon be home to The First Church of Cannabis, as the marijuana-inspired church has been approved by the state.
 
The Washington Post reports that church founder Bill Levin proposed the church in response to Indiana’s controversial religious freedom law, which critics say discriminate against homosexuals.
 
Secretary of State Connie Lawson approved the church as a religious corporation, according to the Post.
 
The church is “based on love and understanding with compassion for all” and has cannabis listed as its sacrament.
 
Levin said, “If someone is smoking in our church, God bless them. This is a church to show a proper way of life, a loving way to live life. We are called ‘cannataerians.’”
 
The founder does not identify as religious.
 
“I’m very faith-driven, I’m very spiritual and I’m filled with love,” Levin said. “I find that most religions are misled into gross perversions of what they are meant to be. This path has led me to lead a religion that people in today’s world can relate to it. We don’t have any guilt doctrine built in. We don’t have any sin built in.”
 
Marijuana remains illegal in Indiana for both medical and recreational purposes.

http://www.christianheadlines.com/blog/first-church-of-cannabis-approved-in-indiana.html
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« Reply #162 on: April 03, 2015, 09:16:21 am »

They wanted their "religious freedom"? They got it!
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« Reply #163 on: April 03, 2015, 09:43:52 am »

They wanted their "religious freedom"? They got it!

Oh man, you can say that again!
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« Reply #164 on: April 04, 2015, 04:35:42 am »

Rabbi: Marijuana is Kosher for Passover

New York Rabbi Ben Greenberg, formerly a Rabbi in marijuana-friendly Denver, Colorado wants you to know that you can use marijuana during Passover.  Passover begins this evening at sundown and lasts for 8 days or should I say, 8 Crazy Nights.

“There are really two different layers of prohibitions during Passover,” Greenberg explained by phone. “One of them is specific to the Ashkenazi Jew community, and the other one is the biblical prohibition, which is that you cant have any leaven–no grains. The additional layer of prohibition is that European Jews, about a hundred years ago, added that you can’t have anything that might look like a grain. So they don’t eat beans or rice on Passover.”

Does marijuana fall into those categories?

“The overwhelming majority of rabbis are clear that it does not,” Greenberg said.

“So the question becomes, In what form can you have it?” and here is where it gets tricky. “Because the problem with edibles is it might be processed in a way that includes leavening, or might come in contact with foods that are not kosher for Passover. So those items should be avoided.”

The Rabbi added, “After you’re done drinking four cups of wine at the Seder, I don’t know if you need anything extra. But if you do, and if you’re already in the realm of smoking anyways, and you’re in a state where it’s legal, then you don’t have to worry about the fact that the marijuana plant itself is not kosher for Passover.”

There you have it.

http://www.truthrevolt.org/news/rabbi-marijuana-kosher-passover
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« Reply #165 on: April 20, 2015, 07:23:53 pm »

Jezebelic ‘Sex Box’ Show Fails to Sell Immorality to the Masses

Sex Box has been canceled. The show caused the Parents Television Council to launch the #StopSexBox campaign in hopes of having the show removed from the cable bundle—and it worked.

Sex Box featured real-life couples having sex for a national television audience. Participants enter a soundproof box on stage, have sex and then discuss their "intimacy issues" with a panel of so-called experts. WE tv, which hosts the show, calls it a "groundbreaking, unprecedented and life-changing way for couples in crisis to heal their sexual and emotional issues."

"The theory behind the Sex Box is based on a revolutionary, scientifically proven concept: In the first 15 minutes after intimacy, the body is flooded with oxytocins and endorphins enabling people to really open up and reveal the root of their problems," the show description reveals. "Our couples have sex on stage in front of live studio audience in a specially designed chamber—the Sex Box."

Why was the show ultimately canceled? Deadline reports Sex Box didn't sell. The site reports only 378,000 people watched the first broadcast. The show eventually worked its way up to 490,000.

"Sex Box was a bold programming swing that broke new ground but did not connect with large numbers of viewers," WE tv said this afternoon in a statement to Deadline. "We are working with our production partners on a potential reformatted version of the show and are thankful for the efforts of everyone involved."

The Parents Television Council sees the cancellation as a major victory. Indeed, even if this so-called scientifically proven concept is valid, how does live sex belong on television? Isn't this just one more example of the Jezebel spirit's ongoing brazen media campaign? I think so.

"The program from its very outset was an affront to families, toxic to advertisers, and a clear demonstration of a badly broken business model that forces every cable/satellite subscriber to pay for unwanted and unwatched cable networks," said PTC President Tim Winter. "PTC members and other pro-family groups who signed petitions against the show are to be congratulated for their successful activism."

http://www.charismanews.com/culture/49277-jezebelic-sex-box-show-fails-to-sell-immorality-to-the-masses
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« Reply #166 on: April 24, 2015, 12:43:43 pm »

http://www.myfoxny.com/story/28889641/synthetic-marijuana
4/24/15
Synthetic marijuana sends 30 to hospitals across New Jersey

SOUTH BRUNSWICK, N.J. (AP) - Health officials are warning New Jerseyans about a street drug that has sent about 30 people to emergency rooms throughout the state.

Authorities have issued the warning for synthetic marijuana, commonly known as spice or K2, which can cause severe agitation, seizures and renal failure.

No one has died in New Jersey as a result of the drug. But a 22-year-old South Brunswick woman apparently suffered an adverse reaction on Tuesday.

It's been seen mostly across the northern and central counties in the state.

Dr. Steven Marcus, the executive director and medical director of the poison information system, tells the Home News Tribune the drug is puzzling because it can induce extreme agitation and coma.

Marcus says the drug can kill and isn't just a strong version of marijuana.
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« Reply #167 on: May 14, 2015, 06:36:07 pm »

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« Reply #168 on: June 09, 2015, 06:34:02 am »

New Dating App Claims to “Liberate” People from Monogamy

 A new dating app for people desiring non-monogamous, open relationships has drawn 70,000 users since it launched last month. The app’s website bills it as an anti-cheating alternative for members who are “liberated from the confines of conventional, old-fashioned, repressed ways of loving.”
 
The app, called OpenMinded, claims it caters to the growing number of people interested in “unconventional relationship configurations.” OpenMinded founder, Brandon Wade, launched the app in the midst of what he calls a shift in societal ideals: “Society has come to a point where marriage has taken a downward turn because it no longer satisfies the needs of the modern woman or man.”
 
But while conservative social analysts acknowledge a trend towards more casual sex, they argue Wade’s claims that most Americans are unsatisfied with monogamous marriage don’t hold up to facts. Rachel Sheffield, a policy analyst with the Heritage Foundation, notes the vast majority of Americans don’t accept or desire a marriage that allows for extramarital affairs.
 
Sheffield points to a Gallup survey released last week that found only 8 percent of Americans view married men or women having an affair as morally acceptable. That number increased just 1 percent from 2001 to 2015, while acceptance for other moral issues, like homosexual relationships and having a baby outside marriage, jumped 23 percent and 15 percent respectively during the same time period.
 
OpenMinded follows the familiar path of online dating sites and apps: become a member, create a profile, connect with other users. But the app allows users to identify what kind of relationship configuration they want, and how many users they would like to connect with.
 
Member “Jessie” is married with two grown children and lives in the Washington, D.C., area. On her profile, she describes herself as an “interesting, introspective, happily married D.C. professional,” who is “into building deep and loving relationships that add to the joy and aliveness of being human,” she told The Washington Post. She calls her approach “ethical non-monogamy” and says she and her husband have a close, intimate, committed relationship. She says she is open with him about weekly dates with one of her four extramarital partners. 
 
Wade argues traditional marriage restrictions are unnecessary in this modern era:  “If you look at marriage, it developed as a survival strategy and a means of raising kids,” Wade told the Post. “But relationships are no longer a necessary component of life. People have careers and other interests—they can survive without them.”
 
Sheffield disagrees. Statistics show monogamous marriage is still the best arrangement for adult and, especially, child flourishing, she said. Inside a stable marriage, children are less likely to be poor, drop out of high school, do drugs, or commit a crime, according to Heritage research.
 
“Marital stability matters for children,” Sheffield said. “A mother and a father who are committed provide children the greatest opportunity to thrive. Where do the children come into this brave new world of sexual relationships?”
 

http://www.christianheadlines.com/blog/new-dating-app-claims-to-liberate-people-from-monogamy.html
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« Reply #169 on: June 18, 2015, 05:21:46 am »

Drug overdose death rates increase in 26 states

Drug overdose death rates have increased in 26 states and Washington, D.C., and overdoses continue to outpace car crashes as the leading cause of injury-related deaths, according to a new report.

Nearly 44,000 people die from drug overdoses each year, a figure that more than doubled from 1999 to 2013, and more than half of them stem from prescription pills.

The report from Trust for America's Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which was released Wednesday, ranks states on their actions to curb the most common causes of injury-related deaths — drug abuse, motor vehicle deaths, homicides, suicides, falls and traumatic brain injuries.

"Over 10 years, the opioid prescriptions have quadrupled, but there's not a change in the overall pain that Americans had in that same period," said Amber Williams, executive director of Safe States Alliance, an organization of experts who work on injury and violence prevention nationwide. "There's definitely a mismatch between the prescriptions and the health issues because the issues have remained the same."

Williams said these drugs, which in the past were used primarily for chronic pain or cancer treatment, are now being used for more treatments, leading to an increase in the prescription of opioids.

West Virginia, Kentucky and Nevada had the highest number of drug overdose-related deaths, according to the report. North Dakota saw the lowest rate: Only 2.6 per 100,000 people died from drug overdoses in a year. Overdose death rates have decreased in six states — Washington, North Dakota, Maine, Florida, Arkansas and Alabama.

In March, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released guidelines to address opioid-drug related overdose, death and dependence. The three-part strategy calls for more training and educational resources for health professionals making prescribing decisions, an increase in the use of naloxone, a drug that can prevent an overdose when taken correctly, and expanding access to medication assistance treatment.

The number of states that have "rescue drug" laws that allow prescription access to naloxone have doubled since 2013. Now 34 states and Washington, D.C., have laws that allow access to the drug and the FDA is meeting to discuss how public health groups may be able to expand use of the drug to reduce the risk of overdose.

The Centers for Disease Control is in the process of reviewing applications from states for new funding to help bolster states' efforts to prevent prescription drug abuse, said Deb Houry, director of the CDC's National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. The CDC will award 15 to 16 states $750,000 to $1 million each year for four years.

Houry said states will have to use the money to enhance their prescription drug monitoring programs and implement community or insurer/health system interventions to prevent prescription drug overdose and abuse.

Education for physicians about "overprescribing medication" and the dangers of prescribing opioids is just as important as educating consumers or those at risk of developing addiction, said Robert Lubran, a division director at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's Center for Substance Abuse Prevention.

"SAMHSA's surveys of households show that people tend to share these medications, and they usually get them from one physician," Lubran said.

It's easy to assume people dying from drug overdoses are hard drug users, but that's not always the case, said Howard Josepher, a social worker and president and CEO of Exponents, a New York City-based drug treatment facility. He said a common issue his organization runs into is that people don't realize the danger of mixing alcohol and drugs.

"Overdose isn't just from heroin or opioids. Many times people are drinking or taking other kinds of drugs, and it isn't an overdose as much as a drug poisoning issue," he said.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/06/17/injury-report-drug-overdose/28873891/
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« Reply #170 on: July 06, 2015, 10:42:22 pm »

20 years ago, "Unsolved Mysteries" had a segment over a man who was "sleepwalking" when he ran over to his mother-in-law's home and killed her. I believe he got acquitted.(his in-laws were against him, but his wife supported him)

http://www.thestar.com/news/crime/2015/07/06/retrial-ordered-in-sexsomnia-case.html
7/6/15
Retrial ordered in ‘sexsomnia’ case
Man convicted of sexual assault wins a new trial with an unusual defence: He was asleep at the time.


A Brockville area man will face a new trial for sexual assault after Ontario’s top court found that it’s worth considering whether the man committed the act while he was asleep.

It’s the sexsomnia defence.

Ryan Hartman was convicted by an Ontario Court judge in 2012 of sexually assaulting a woman at a house party and later sentenced to 14 months’ imprisonment and three years’ probation. He testified at his trial that he never assaulted the woman.

But his position changed at the Court of Appeal, where he admitted that he did it, but that he was in a “parasomnic state,” which he backed up with evidence from a forensic psychiatrist.

In a rare move, the three-judge panel allowed the new evidence and defence in a decision released Monday, and ordered that Hartman face a new trial so that he can be found either guilty or not criminally responsible due to a mental disorder.

“New defences advanced years after the relevant events, only when other defences have been tried and failed and the convicted offender stands at the prison gate, must be viewed with considerable judicial suspicion,” Justice David Doherty wrote for the panel.

“However, there will be cases in which the interests of justice require that an appellant be allowed to present a new defence on appeal … This is one of those rare cases.”

Hartman, 35, has so far only spent about two months of his sentence in jail, having been granted bail on several occasions as his appeal moved through the process.

“I’m pleased that the Court of Appeal took such a careful look at the evidence presented,” said his appeal lawyer, Danielle Robitaille, who did not represent him at trial.

The sexsomnia defence is not new, although it is uncommon.

“For one thing, there are not a lot of sexsomniacs,” said criminal defence lawyer Daniel Brown, who is not involved in the case. “And the other thing is that as an available defence, it leads a person basically to be found not criminally responsible by reason of a mental disorder, and so it subjects them to a potentially indefinite period in custody … It isn’t a complete acquittal.”


Hartman had quite a bit to drink one night at a house party in 2011 and ended up spending the night, falling asleep in front of the television, according to the appeal court ruling. He did not know the complainant, identified in the ruling as R.C., who fell asleep with her boyfriend on an air mattress in the kitchen.

She woke up feeling pain in her anus, and realized that her pants had been pulled down. She soon identified the person behind her who had his hand on her hip as Hartman. She testified at trial that she told police Hartman “was just pretending like he was sleeping” when she awoke.

Robitaille told the Star she pursued the sexsomnia defence after reading the evidence of the complainant, who had said Hartman was snoring at the time of the assault.

She was familiar with the defence because of the famous case of Toronto landscaper Jan Luedecke, who successfully argued sexsomnia all the way to the Court of Appeal after sexually assaulting a woman at a house party in 2003.

The Ontario Review Board, which reviews the status of individuals found to be not criminally responsible, found in 2009 that Luedecke does not pose a significant risk to the community and gave him an absolute discharge.

At Hartman’s appeal, Robitaille presented the expert evidence of Dr. Julian Gojer, whose reports were based on several factors, including a family history of sleepwalking; that Hartman’s girlfriend reported he had engaged before in sexual activity while asleep; that alcohol can be a trigger for parasomnia; and that some circumstances of the assault were apparently consistent with Hartman being asleep.

The Crown presented evidence from its own expert, Dr. Mark Pressman, to counter the defence. The court did not say it accepted Gojer’s evidence as fact, leaving that up to the trial court as it ponders a verdict.

“It would be for the trial court to decide whether Dr. Gojer’s evidence should ultimately be accepted. I think the appellant has cleared that hurdle,” Doherty wrote.
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« Reply #171 on: July 08, 2015, 05:53:38 pm »

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-33446695
7/8/15
Heroin use jumps in US as painkiller addicts switch drugs

Heroin use in the US has surged in the past decade as experts say people using opioid painkillers are increasingly turning to heroin as a cheaper high.

The number of heroin users rose by 63% between 2002 and 2013, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported on Tuesday.

Use among white Americans was mostly responsible for the jump, the CDC said.

However, the report found increases among people of all income levels and most age groups.

"Heroin use is increasing rapidly across nearly all demographic groups, and with that increase, we are seeing a dramatic rise in deaths," CDC chief Tom Frieden said.

Local police departments across the country have been dealing with an uptick in heroin overdoses in recent years, and many police officers have begun carrying life-saving medication to prevent deaths.

The CDC reported that over 8,000 people died from a heroin-involved overdose in 2013, nearly twice the number of deaths seen just two years earlier.

Federal officials cited a number of factors causing the rise in heroin use.

As authorities have cracked down on prescription drug abuse in recent years, users who have become addicted to the pills have switched to heroin. The drug is often cheaper and more easily available.

The amount of heroin being brought into the US has also increased, driving down the cost of the street drug.
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« Reply #172 on: July 12, 2015, 01:10:20 pm »

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« Reply #173 on: July 13, 2015, 11:12:06 pm »

http://www.owensoundsuntimes.com/2015/07/13/race-on-to-develop-pot-breathalyzer
7/13/15
Race on to develop 'pot breathalyzer'

As cannabis bans are relaxed in more U.S. states, the race is on to develop an instant roadside breathalyzer for police to test drivers who may be taking the "high" road.

Vancouver-based Cannabix Technologies Inc, founded by a retired RCMP officer, expects to be first out of the gate with a "pot breathalyzer" - a handheld device similar to those used to detect alcohol.

Cannabix won't give an estimate of when its product might go on sale, but has a prototype undergoing in-house testing.

Other hopefuls, such as Colorado-based Lifeloc Technologies Inc and a chemistry professor-PhD student duo at Washington State University, are still busy in the lab.

The devices aim to accurately detect the presence of THC, the psychoactive component in cannabis, but can't provide enough evidence of impairment by themselves.

"I think the first breathalyzer on the market will be a simple 'yes' or 'no' for the presence of THC at the time of the test, and in that sense it won't provide a quantitative evidential measure," said Barry Knott, the chief executive of Lifeloc, which already makes alcohol breathalyzers.

The size of the potential market is unclear, owing to widely varying estimates of cannabis use, and unreliable data on those driving under its influence.

But developers say they will be able to sell pot devices for a lot more than the ubiquitous alcohol breathalyzers.

Lifeloc sells alcohol breathalyzers for US$300-$400 but expects to charge $2,500-$3,500 for its cannabis version.

Marijuana is illegal under U.S. federal law but is allowed for medical use in about half the country's states. Others, including Oregon and Colorado, have gone further, allowing recreational use.

Lifeloc shares, traded over the counter, have risen about 21 percent to $14.50 this year, while Cannabix's have risen about 21 percent to 17 Canadian cents on the small-cap Canadian Securities Exchange.

A roadside breathalyzer would replace a complicated assortment of costly blood and urine tests that can take days to get a result. But even these tests are a long way from showing impairment, as the science on how cannabis affects driving is far from settled.

HOW MUCH IS TOO MUCH?

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in a paper this year, said cannabis impairs psychomotor skills, attention, lane tracking and cognitive function, but not enough is known about how much is needed to affect driving performance.

This is primarily because of the vastly different ways in which alcohol and cannabis affect the human body.

Whether marijuana is smoked or ingested also dramatically changes how the body processes it. It's also difficult to isolate the affects of cannabis in crashes if drivers have also consumed alcohol and/or other drugs.

But some states are not waiting to reach a consensus on how much THC is too much to drive.

Washington and Montana have set a limit of 5 nanograms/milliliter (ng/mL), while Pennsylvania has a 1 ng/mL limit.

Other states prohibit drivers from having any measurable amount of cannabis in their system.

These limits are more political than based on science, said Nicholas Lovrich, a political scientist at Washington State University who is researching the accuracy of drug-recognition experts - police officers trained to detect drug impairment in drivers.

Cannabix founder Kal Malhi initially aims to cater to Canada and the U.S. states that have zero tolerance for THC, hoping his device - designed to confirm police observations - will be able to accurately detect THC up to two hours after consumption.

The company won't talk about its technology, other than to say a patent is pending. Aside from law enforcement, Malhi sees employers and educational institutions as potential customers.

Lifeloc's research has been boosted by a $250,000 grant from the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade.

The company has undertaken laboratory tests of its technology, but creating a real-time device that can collect enough sample for reasonable analysis is proving a challenge.

A few blows are typically sufficient to determine alcohol levels, Knott said. "... With a marijuana breathalyzer we'd have somebody blowing like 20 times - that's just not going to fly."

Washington State University is also still in the research stage, as part of a project applying existing technology - ion mobility spectrometry - to drug testing, including cannabis.

"(This) is the same technology used for explosive detection at airports, the same technology used across the world for chemical warfare detection," said Dr. Herbert Hill, who is working on the research with student Jessica Tufariello.

However, the likely inability of these devices to accurately detect levels of THC - at least initially - raises the question of whether law enforcement agencies will clamor to buy them.

"If this is just a matter of showing how many people have THC in their systems, then it's essentially useless," said Steve Sarich, who runs a cannabis advocacy group and serves as an expert witness for cases involving THC-related impairment.
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« Reply #174 on: July 14, 2015, 01:16:49 pm »

Hundreds of sex toys dangling from power lines in Portland, Oregon

Hundreds of phallic sex toys have been seen hanging in recent days from power lines across Portland, Oregon, provoking laughter, blushing and lots of photos.

The large white and bright orange dildos appear to have been strung together in pairs, and have prompted numerous reports to the Portland Office of Neighborhood Involvement, department spokeswoman Lisa Leddy said on Monday.

A spokesman for public utility Portland General Electric said he did not believe the rubber products posed a fire hazard.

In online forums, Portlanders posted photos of dildos swaying in the wind above a number of major commercial streets, and speculated about their origins.

Portland resident Lucila Cejas Epple said she first encountered the phalluses at a neighborhood street fair over the weekend.

"You could spot them in several intersections and you could see all sorts of reactions to them," she said. "Some would blush, others would laugh, and most would take photos."

http://news.yahoo.com/hundreds-sex-toys-dangling-power-lines-portland-oregon-233149187.html
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« Reply #175 on: July 14, 2015, 05:19:28 pm »

Hundreds of sex toys dangling from power lines in Portland, Oregon

Hundreds of phallic sex toys have been seen hanging in recent days from power lines across Portland, Oregon, provoking laughter, blushing and lots of photos.

The large white and bright orange dildos appear to have been strung together in pairs, and have prompted numerous reports to the Portland Office of Neighborhood Involvement, department spokeswoman Lisa Leddy said on Monday.

A spokesman for public utility Portland General Electric said he did not believe the rubber products posed a fire hazard.

In online forums, Portlanders posted photos of dildos swaying in the wind above a number of major commercial streets, and speculated about their origins.

Portland resident Lucila Cejas Epple said she first encountered the phalluses at a neighborhood street fair over the weekend.

"You could spot them in several intersections and you could see all sorts of reactions to them," she said. "Some would blush, others would laugh, and most would take photos."

http://news.yahoo.com/hundreds-sex-toys-dangling-power-lines-portland-oregon-233149187.html

The initial USSC sodomy marriage ruling 2 years ago have all but opened up the floodgates to more and bigger perversions.
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« Reply #176 on: July 18, 2015, 12:29:21 pm »

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« Reply #177 on: August 31, 2015, 02:40:02 pm »

Rise of the bizarre 'cannabis vomiting syndrome': Heavy users suffer from severe nausea and pain that can only be relieved by bathing in hot water several times a day

    Cannabinoid hypermesis syndrome was first recorded in Australia
    Symptoms include severe stomach pain, nausea and vomiting
    Sufferers often report having a hot bath up to 5 times a day to relieve pain
    Expert warns condition is responsible for a rise in 'unnecessary' hospital admissions for heavy cannabis users - and is 'increasing acutely'



WHAT IS CANNABINOID HYPERMESIS SYNDROME?

Cannabinoid hypermesis syndrome is characterised by heavy use of the drug, triggering nausea and vomiting as well as frequent hot baths or showers.

Despite studies promoting the use of marijuana's anti-emetic (anti-sickness) qualities, there is increasing evidence of its negative affect on the gastrointestinal tract, triggering CHS.

Sufferers have reported frequent hot bathing helps to provide temporary relief from the nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain typical of the illness.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-3216967/Rise-bizarre-cannabis-vomiting-syndrome-Heavy-users-suffer-severe-nausea-pain-relieved-bathing-hot-water-times-day.html#ixzz3kQJFoRG7

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« Reply #178 on: September 18, 2015, 04:31:44 pm »

'Super-gonorrhoea' outbreak in Leeds

Highly drug-resistant gonorrhoea is spreading in the north of England with an outbreak centred in Leeds, sexual health doctors have told the BBC. One of the main treatments has become useless against the new strain of the sexually transmitted infection. Twelve cases have been confirmed in Leeds and a further four have been reported in Macclesfield, Oldham and Scunthorpe.   

http://www.bbc.com/news/health-34269315
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« Reply #179 on: September 23, 2015, 12:26:32 pm »

https://www.yahoo.com/travel/so-sad-so-dumb-selfies-kill-more-people-than-160318578.html
So Sad, So Dumb. Selfies Kill More People Than Sharks

Billie Cohen
September 22, 2015

The selfie nabs one more victim. A Japanese tourist has died after attempting to take a self-portrait at the Taj Mahal’s Royal Gate. The 66-year-old man fell down the stairs and suffered head injuries, losing consciousness and leading to his death. One of his friends also fractured a leg in the fall.

It’s a sad story, and what’s even sadder is that it’s not the only one. As if you needed additional proof that people need to be much more aware of their surroundings and much less focused on themselves: In May of this year, a 21-year-old accidentally shot herself while posing with a gun in Moscow (she lived); and in August, a man was gored while attempting to snap himself during a bull running in Spain (he died).

Related: They Did What? Travel Selfies Gone Terribly Wrong

It’s gotten so bad in Russia, where kids have been electrocuted while trying to take selfies on top of train cars, the government has launched a public-service campaign to warn young people about locations where it might not be so smart to take a photo (including on top of houses, next to oncoming trains, and in the company of wild animals).

Mashable went a step further in putting this so-tragic-it’s-tragic trend into perspective, crunching to numbers to determine that more lives in 2015 have been lost to selfie mishaps (12) than to shark attacks (eight). In the article, reporter Cailey Rizzo notes that four of those selfie deaths were the result of falls.

image

Mashable did the math and figured out that selfies have killed more people than sharks this year. (Illustration: Mashable)

Related: GoPro Helmet Cam Records Death of Two BASE Jumpers

The safety concern has led to the banning of selfie sticks at numerous tourist attractions around the world, including museums, music festivals, zoos, Pamplona’s Running of the Bulls, even Comic-Con and Disney parks.

But as we’ve pointed out before, you can’t ban stupidity. Travel is awesome, people, don’t kill yourself doing it.
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