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My good friend Logan* was arrested this past weekend for having fake plates on his car. After they arrested him, his friend witnessed an officer planting dirt weed in his glove compartment. What an incredibly fucked up, grimy thing to do. Fucking with the life of a complete stranger who’s actually an awesome person, who didn’t harm anyone, anything. I asked him to write up his story because I want to put it here for people to find and consider, so it’s not forgotten.
So here it is, Logan’s story:
So last week as I’m pulling up to get a haircut from the barber shop in Corona, Queens. Two (female) uniformed officers ran up on me from across the street. I pulled an illegal u turn so I thought that was the reason they stopped me. They proceeded to tell me that my temporary tag looked suspicious. After they investigated further, I was told my tag was fake and they were gonna take me in (to jail) for that. They continued to tell me that there have been a lot of these fake tags going around and that there’s an open investigation on the guy who sold me the car and the fake tag. I asked them why were they taking me in and they said there was no way for them to tell if I was oblivious to the fact that it was fake.
Once I arrived at the precinct they started on my paper work/booking process. They allowed me to call a friend to pick up my stuff from my car because it was gonna have to stay at the police station. When my friends arrived to pick up my stuff the arresting officer which I only remember by the name of Emily continued to search the car at which that point my friend noticed her pull out what appeared to be a small nickel bag of “reggies” aka a bag of regular non high grade marijuana out of the glove compartment of all places. When she returned to the holding cell area which is the same place she was doing my paper work I noticed it and thought it was for some other case and didn’t even think anything of it.
Fast forward to central booking in Kew Gardens, Queens after spending a night in jail for a fake tag I didn’t even know about. I finally got to talk to my appointed lawyer. She went on to read me my charges and told me that I had a charge for marijuana possession! I was like what the fuck! It was clear to me that it was planted in my car by her (female officer) when she acted like she was searching my car. And in the glove compartment of all places. Nobody hides weed there! That’s the spot where you pull your car’s paper work from. When all was said and done, the charges were dropped from felony possession of a fake temp tag and misdemeanor possession of marijuana to disorderly conduct, which isn’t even a misdemeanor. And I have to pay $220 dollars in fines.
While locked up, there were other people in there for the same reason as me. And plenty of other people in there for petty charges. This system is so fucked up. Even though I could prove I bought my car and tag from a dealer there was no way to prove that I didn’t know the tag was fake. Hence theres no way prove my innocence to a (white) jury . As my lawyer told me. So I took the deal.
![thefixnews:
South Korea May Regulate Video Games Like Drugs
South Korea introduced new legislation this week proposing that video games need to be strictly regulated, like drugs and alcohol, in order to promote a “happy and healthy society.” Rep. Shin Eui-jin, a member of the conservative Saenuri Party and former medical professor, introduced the bill, backed by fourteen other representatives, which would authorize the government to regulate online gaming, drugs, alcohol, and gambling, by controlling their manufacturing, distribution, and sale. The bill has yet to be voted on in the National Assembly, but is already causing a stir in the country’s gaming industry. “It is regretful that the government views games in the same category as drugs and gambling,” a member of the gaming industry told Inews24. “[This administration is] talking about a creative economy and yet are constantly trying to regulate one of leading industry for content business.” Gaming addiction is a growing problem in South Korea. The government spends about $10 million per year to fund internet and gaming addiction treatment centers, in addition to “prevention programs” such as imposing a national online gaming curfew for people below age sixteen. According to the DSM-5, video gaming is not classified as an addiction, but continues to seriously affect the lives of those who become addicted.
via TheFix.com](http://24.media.tumblr.com/55a0f9b7105956d6b582e9ba9df0d858/tumblr_mm4uzhrSr51snsj4ro1_250.jpg)
South Korea May Regulate Video Games Like Drugs
South Korea introduced new legislation this week proposing that video games need to be strictly regulated, like drugs and alcohol, in order to promote a “happy and healthy society.” Rep. Shin Eui-jin, a member of the conservative Saenuri Party and former medical professor, introduced the bill, backed by fourteen other representatives, which would authorize the government to regulate online gaming, drugs, alcohol, and gambling, by controlling their manufacturing, distribution, and sale. The bill has yet to be voted on in the National Assembly, but is already causing a stir in the country’s gaming industry. “It is regretful that the government views games in the same category as drugs and gambling,” a member of the gaming industry told Inews24. “[This administration is] talking about a creative economy and yet are constantly trying to regulate one of leading industry for content business.” Gaming addiction is a growing problem in South Korea. The government spends about $10 million per year to fund internet and gaming addiction treatment centers, in addition to “prevention programs” such as imposing a national online gaming curfew for people below age sixteen. According to the DSM-5, video gaming is not classified as an addiction, but continues to seriously affect the lives of those who become addicted.
Silk Road Under Cyber Attack by Hackers
Silk Road, the Amazon.com of drugs, is under attack by unknown parties. For the past couple days, the hidden “dark net” site has sustained a denial-of-service (DoS) attack, which basically floods it with fake automated traffic until the servers are overloaded and the site crashes. “It is incredibly discouraging to have everything we’ve worked so hard for taken down by some anonymous and malevolent person, but your kind words of encouragement do wonders for our morale,” wrote site administrator Dread Pirate Roberts in an update on Monday. “We are on the cutting edge of anonymity technology here. The attacks being used against us MUST be overcome if Silk Road and any anonymous public sites are to have a future.” Since Monday, the site has been adjusting its servers in order to mitigate the attack and prevent similar future offensives. Various news sites and related forums have floated theories about who is attacking the site and why. Gawker suspects the US government or the DEA have something to do with it, considering the staggering traffic the anonymous online marketplace has had recently. News Australia thinks it has something to do with a ransom threat sent a few days before. BitCoin Magazine addresses the possibility that the hacker isn’t just after Silk Road, but instead all Tor-based crypto-commerce funded by untraceable Bitcoins. Currently, the site is back up, in limited capacity: “Silk Road is open and accessible. As soon as the attacker finds out, he will likely change his tactics and try to take the site down again,” Dread Pirate Roberts writes in today’s update. “Hopefully he won’t be able to, but time will tell.”
Willie Nelson Celebrates 80th Birthday with Stoned Gandalf Audition
Born in Abbott, Texas on April 30, 1933 - Willie Nelson is the oldest and wisest celebrity marijuana advocate. He formed the Teapot Party after his marijuana arrest in 2010 and has a place on NORM`L’s advisory board.
Happy birthday, Willie!
Is Ecstasy Safer When It’s Purer? | Popular Science
…most ecstasy isn’t pure MDMA — it’s often cut with a some unknown filler, as are other drugs like heroin and cocaine. Both caffeine and ephedrine, another stimulant, serve as common fillers for ecstasy because they look and function somewhat similar to MDMA, but are cheaper to obtain. They share some of the speed-like effects of ecstasy, though they don’t give you the same increase in empathy and emotional openness.
There’s also a lot of hand-wringing about how kids these days think “molly” is purer, safer MDMA. But whether or not an adulterant makes your MDMA experience more or less dangerous depends, of course, on what it is. If your pill or powder is laced with something like baking soda, the toxicity of the MDMA would actually be diluted.
“If the adulterant is caffeine or ephedrine, you can get a combination of toxic effects that can be as bad or greater than MDMA alone,” Mills says. “They may enhance each other’s toxicity, but definitive studies haven’t been done.”
In both Canada and the U.K. recently, people have died after what they thought were ecstasy pills turned out to contain a toxic chemical called PMMA, or “Dr Death.”
Ecstasy’s toxicity is a scientific mystery because it lacks a clear “dose and response effect,” according to Mills—one person might get sent to the hospital after one pill, while someone else can take 50, no problem. How many people actually die a year from ecstasy-related causes is hard to pin down, but according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, there were 22,816 MDMA-related emergency room visits in 2009.
For Mithoefer’s study, under controlled clinical conditions with research-grade, pure MDMA, the drug didn’t show any long-term side effects. Trials of MDMA-assisted PTSD therapy have also been completed in Switzerland and gotten underway in Vancouver.
As for recreational drugs, it’s pretty much impossible to tell whether what you’re buying is 100 percent pure. You can buy test kits to check for some common adulterants. If your drug dealer happens to press his pills with baking soda, a less pure dose could actually be a bit safer, though the effects you’re paying for will also be lessened. Other than that, you’re probably better off with a purer dose of MDMA, rather than something that might be laced with a substance with Death in its nickname.
Police Issue ‘Scratch and Sniff’ Cards to Help Weed Out Marijuana Growers | TIME
Police in England are distributing “scratch and sniff” cards to help members of the public detect the telltale aroma of illicit cannabis farms.
The cards, which replicate the distinct smell of growing marijuana, will be mailed to homes in 13 areas throughout the country, in the hope that they will help people to identify cannabis factories in their communities.
[…] Crimestoppers offers a list of clues for spotting cannabis cultivation, including a “strong and sickly sweet smell; visitors at unsociable hours; strong and constant lighting day and night and lots of cables.”
The U.K. saw a 15% growth in cannabis production in 2011-12, according to Crimestoppers, which the group claimed has led to an increase in theft, violence and the use of firearms, as well as an increased risk of fire in residential areas where growers have tampered with electrical supplies. Supplying cannabis in the U.K. can lead to a 14-year prison sentence.
The Chemistry of Nitrous-Powered, Pot-Infused Liquor | Popular Science
There’ve been alcohol-based tinctures of cannabis before, of course — usually seen in turbid brown jars on windowsills, But one prominent New York bartender (I’ll call him Jon) has been responsible for bringing the infusion up to date with modern, artisanal cocktail culture. Jon is a serious, technologically minded craftsman of beverages; he works as a cocktail consultant, and has designed the cocktail programs of more than one Manhattan bar.
He’s refined a method that’s quick, gives precise, predictable results, and reportedly maximizes the delicious herbal flavor of the drug, to provide a civilized sippable for the beverage connoisseur. Jon’s nitrous-powered Green Dragon “just tastes good. We’ve dialed the strength back substantially, not because we can’t make it stronger, but just because people want to be able to drink more of it, because they like it so much.”
recipe:
Nitrous Green Dragon
- a one-liter heat-tolerant whipped-cream whipper
- two nitrous oxide chargers
- a double boiler large enough to accommodate the whipper bottle
- 750 ml mezcal at room temperature (Jon uses Vida or Sombra)
- 3.5 grams (1/8 ounce) of cannabis (Jon uses “indoor high-grade sativa”)
- Roughly break up the cannabis.
- Put the cannabis and the mezcal in the whipper bottle.
- Close the canister and charge it with two charges of N2O according to the instructions.
- Let it sit for 5 minutes.
- Vent out the pressurized gas. NOTE: you are venting aerosolized ethanol with THC dissolved in it, as well as laughing gas. Jon says “Probably nobody would want to inhale this.”
- Stir the liquid and let it sit until the gas boils off.
- Place the sealed canister in a double boiler and let it simmer for an hour.
- Strain the solids out of the liquid and discard them or dry them for other uses. The liquid is nitrous green dragon.
![the anti smoking crusade rages on in new york city
New York City Proposes Raising Smoking Age from 18 to 21 | NYT
The age to legally buy cigarettes in New York City would rise to 21 from 18 under a proposal unveiled on Monday, a measure that would give New York the strictest limits of any major American city.
The proposal would make the age for buying cigarettes and other tobacco products the same as for purchasing liquor, but it would not prohibit people under 21 from possessing or even smoking cigarettes.
It is the latest effort in a persistent campaign to curb smoking that began soon after Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg took office, with bans on smoking in restaurants and bars that expanded more recently to parks, beaches, plazas and other public places.
[…] The proposal has to be approved by the City Council and signed by the mayor, but its enactment is likely since it is being promoted by Ms. Quinn and is supported by Mr. Bloomberg.
full article](http://24.media.tumblr.com/6cb65ce736509d702ed98a3c5afdfa94/tumblr_mltt484Rl21qc1ca1o1_250.jpg)
the anti smoking crusade rages on in new york city
New York City Proposes Raising Smoking Age from 18 to 21 | NYT
The age to legally buy cigarettes in New York City would rise to 21 from 18 under a proposal unveiled on Monday, a measure that would give New York the strictest limits of any major American city.
The proposal would make the age for buying cigarettes and other tobacco products the same as for purchasing liquor, but it would not prohibit people under 21 from possessing or even smoking cigarettes.
It is the latest effort in a persistent campaign to curb smoking that began soon after Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg took office, with bans on smoking in restaurants and bars that expanded more recently to parks, beaches, plazas and other public places.
[…] The proposal has to be approved by the City Council and signed by the mayor, but its enactment is likely since it is being promoted by Ms. Quinn and is supported by Mr. Bloomberg.
The following is an excerpt from a feature by an ex-junkie, explaining why legalizing all drugs would help rather than hurt his daughter’s generation:
People who have never experienced addiction often express some confusion on this issue. They feel that we, as current, recovering or ex-addicts, should be fighting against legalization. After all, drugs have wreaked havoc in our lives: Why on earth would we want them legal?
We want them legal for the same reason that few ex-alcoholics are in favor of banning booze. The legality of the substance is not the issue; the availability of it is. Prohibited or not, trillion-dollar drug war spend or not, drugs remain readily available all over the globe—in small towns, big cities, schools and even prisons.
A relapse isn’t something that can be prevented by legislation. But at least when alcoholics relapse they don’t risk death from drinking contaminated bathtub hooch. Many of the tangible harms of addiction come from the illegality of substances we use—the prohibitive cost, the uncertain quality and the legal risks involved in procuring our substance of choice.
You must know by now that the current approach has failed. A century of prohibition has resulted in a wider proliferation of drugs than ever, sold by criminal organizations so powerful and well funded that they hold the power to topple governments. This “war” has done nothing to stop people taking drugs. The only people who benefit are drug dealers and the profiteers in the prohibition industry.
Real Life “Bling Ring” Leader Ditches Her Inner Bad Girl
Back in May 2010, the then 18-year-old was convicted of felony burglary for her involvement with the group of six other teenagers—known as the “Bling Ring”—that robbed $3 million worth of cash and personal belongings from celebrities including Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan and Orlando Bloom.
The purity of cocaine has fallen steadily in the UK over the last decade. Voted the worst value for money drug in the world in this years Global Drug Survey this drugs meter minutes asks an analytical toxicologist what’s in cocaine?
WHY, amanda bynes, WHY?
Amanda Bynes Kicked Out Of Gym For Smoking Weed On 4/20 | The Huffington Post
have a nice 420, everyone
(Source: future1luv)
here’s a video of a cat, on acid
On this day in 1943, the psychedelic effects of LSD were accidentally discovered by chemist Albert Hoffman, who absorbed some through his fingertips while trying to synthesize pharmaceuticals. He described a “not unpleasant intoxicated-like condition, characterized by an extremely stimulated imagination” followed by “an uninterrupted stream of fantastic pictures, extraordinary shapes with intense, kaleidoscopic play of colors.” And thus, the “trip” was born. A few days later on April 19, Hoffman took acid on purpose and famously rode his bike home while “fried”—a day that would become known in drug circles as Bicycle Day. “I think that in human evolution it has never been as necessary to have this substance LSD,” Hoffman said on his 100th birthday, “It is just a tool to turn us into what we are supposed to be.”
Since the drug’s inception, scientists, the military and even the CIA have attempted to harness the its hallucinogenic powers. It’s also been tested on animals (like the confused cat below, filmed as part of a US government program of the ’50s and ’60s). And many notables have used it recreationally, from Ray Charles, to Jack Nicholson to Eminem. Brave New World author Aldous Huxley was such a fan that he requested to be injected with LSD while he died; scientist Francis Crick credited the psychedelic for his discovery of the DNA double helix; and baseball great Dock Ellis famously pitched a no-hitter while “under the influence of LSD,” which he later called “the high-point of my baseball career.” Even modern technology hasn’t eclipsed acid’s appeal. In fact, the late Steve Jobs once cited LSD as a major factor in his success. “Doing LSD was one of the two or three most important things I have done in my life,” he told the New York Times, saying that he believed Bill Gates would “be a broader guy if he had dropped acid once.”
