Drug Info

Drug Info

A large number of young people at any time may ingest pills or "white powder" drugs. Many are popular in the dance party rave scene that is a "mating ground", and therefore carries many obligatory social interactions. One of these may involve drug taking. The law sees drug distribution as a serious offence as politicians seek votes from the majority who are frightened by a common threat of death that surrounds modern day "magic potions". The young people taking drugs are more savvy to the scene than their parents, but assumed knowledge is as dangerous as hidden ignorance.

Drugs are generally bad for you on a number of counts:

1. They are illegal
2. Some of them will create a dependence upon its continued use
3. Some of them will create conditions that physically harm your body

If two more more of these conditions are present, the drug is not something you want to rely upon for your good feelings.

Blanket drug laws are evidentally disrespected by so many, that it becomes important to educate about these factors as they relate to drugs. Not only for those who risk these factors, but for those who decide how that tide of use is regulated. When the law does not make sense the masses ignore the law. Legislators are forced to take this into account and laws thus evolve around the natural behaviour and reactions we have. When this fails to work, social chaos results.

Declaring any drug use is social chaos is to say we live, now, in a state of perpetual war in the comfort of our own homes. This sounds a little absurd but it is no less absurd than spending more fighting cannabis than metamphetamine.

These links open a new page so you can compare the negative effects for three drugs often confused with each other.

1. Speed Info
2. Ecstasy Info
3. Ketamine Info

Ecstasy is what most young people buying pills in night clubs think that they are swallowing, and in most cases, Ecstasy (MDMA) causes no damage as it passes through and douses your brain with all its serotonin, releasing the dam, emptying the happiness reservoir for one night of super fun. The payment is usually a sharp bout of depression but the brain recovers. Serious consequences are relatively rare. You are more likely to get run over by a double decker bus (and that does happen, too). E is not habit forming, except that it exists as a dance culture. E is not very harmful to the body.

Ketamine is often passed off as Ecstasy or taken when no Ecstasy is available. It is not that harmful under controlled conditions. If you drink alcohol with it, you may have very severe reactions. You may also go into a K-hole - a dark warm and cuddly place that may not be much fun at a rock concert. Ketamine can damage you if you take too much or in a bad combination.

Speed is the most dangerous and stupid drug of the lot, simply put, it destroys the body that takes it, and is so very habit forming as its effect reduces over time even when you take more, and more and more. Eventually, speed damages the brain and the nervous system. This is the drug that burns out the brains and promise. P is a type of speed that is smoked and although it may seem great at the time, leads to rapid addiction.

When you buy a pill how do you know if it is MDMA or something that may have effects you did not seek? You simply do not. This chart shows a broad variety of pills passed as Ecstasy and submitted for analysis.

British Columbians busted in New Zealand

British Columbians busted in New Zealand

New Zealand News - NZ - Accomplices share blame under common intent law

You don't have to pull the trigger

Recent convictions for murder and manslaughter were given by jury due to the "Law of Parties". This means that if you and your mates do over a service station with an expectation that violence may be involved, you could be charged with the most serious crimes committed by your group.

This law could cause a miscarriage of justice, but it would appear that in this case, it was more than justified:

Falealii gave evidence for the Crown, admitting that he was a cold-blooded killer.

But he claimed Samoa and Johansson schooled him in the art of armed robbery, gave him the gun, fed him the drug methamphetamine and drove him to and from the hold-ups, telling him to shoot anyone who gave him trouble.

Should offenders or potential offenders now be concerned that their mates may land them in jail even if they have not groomed an offender to kill.

We believe so, the earlier conviction of a getaway driver in the RSA triple murder, of manslaughter, when he did not even enter the building, indicates that culpability may attach itself to the conspiracy stage of events rather than the commission stage.

Big brutal psychotic murderers high on P may form unresolvable arguments at the time the crime is being planned. Domination and abuse are normal for such "leaders" who may involve a weaker person on a venture they have no control over.

See: New Zealand News - NZ - Accomplices share blame under common intent law

Arrest of Customs Agent

Double Agent

Internal systems at Customs has led to one of their own being charged with importing metamphetamine worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

New Zealand imigration was already subject to a fairly ferocious regime of inspection to maintain boundaries to foreign insects. Fines of $100,000 welcome those who flout NZ's algricultural regulations. An invasion of Painted Apple Moth resulted in months and months of aerial pesticide sprayings over Auckland suburbs. That underlines the effort New Zealand puts into protecting its borders. This also means that drug importers face an active customs inspection regime. Dogs sniffed every bit of luggage before Sept 11th.

The 26 year old officer pleaded guilty. He may have had some idea how precise and damning the evidence would be if he was caught. He must have had nerves of steel to work as a customs agent and a drug smuggler at the same time.

See:
NZ City

Michael Jackson still doesn

Innocent, until considered creepy

Trial by media is not uncommon at Michael Jackson's level. Sure he could sue every single instance where the media imply he is guilty of a felony for damages but giving his media spotlight over to sex allegations is a mistake and Mr Jackson knows that.

If Michael Jackson is guilty of crimes the forensic team will face challenges collecting evidence due to his meticulous demands. It follows that charges either are brought, or his name be considered cleared. If he has offended in any way it is perhaps insanity to believe one would get away with it after watching a few episodes of CSI.

He can now get the best treatment the state can afford, under the spotlight of media inspection. Oh, its California. Would a Gubernatorial pardon help?

It is a chilling thought that the obsession any number of fans may have and how they reflect his own iconography may provide evidence that seals an undeserved fate for a man who pushed sexuality as deep into culture as Marylin Munroe. Her death was a suicide but her life was creating art.

That Michael Jackson could be a pro bono case is disturbing.

See Michael Jackson still doesn't get it - MSNBC

New Zealand Sports News - - He's no terrorist, says Zaoui's wife

Political Prisoner?

Ahmed Zaoui, a democratically elected (in 1991) MP of Algeria has been in jail in New Zealand for the last 11 months. He seeks asylum from the government that removed the democratically elected government. The trouble is that Lianne Dalzell, the Immigration Minister has received intelligence that is troubling to her, as she has no way of validating it, that brands this professor of theology, and muslim moderate, as a terrorist. He fled his country 10 years ago and Algeria has been bloodied by civil war after a military coup deposed the popularly elected Government.

The branding of terrorist is the new McCarthyism. If someone is Islamic, has a thick beard or turban, the western mind is being conditioned to pre-judge that person. Post 9/11 our fear has placed people under suspicion that normally we would extend a hand to, and help. Humanity benefits by acts of grace. Humanity is harmed when fear takes over.

As a status 'terrorist' is a hard one to prove. When a freshly elected governnment, there as a choice of the people of the land, is deposed by the military, and civil war breaks out, the enemy can now be branded as 'terrorists'. During the cold war they were called "spys" who worked for "smersh" and hunted in fiction by James Bond (and the CIA in reality). Spreading fear and paranoia distorts democracy. We are cowed into selecting leaders prepared to kill with decisive intent.

Now we go after Isalmic extremists. The branding of anyone based on their race or appearance is prejudice. When our government reacts only to the secret whispers of intelligence and not courts of law, we lose our sense of democracy and justice for all.

See also: NZ Herald - Zaoui - history
New Zealand Herald - He's no terrorist, says Zaoui's wife
8th International Criminal Law Congress 2002, Melborne Australia, The War on Terror vs The Rule of Law

Death in Detention

Home Detention Death

P brings death. It brings death if it is used in prison and it brings death if it is used or manufactured at home while under detention.

MP Ron Mark attempts to blow whistles about anything "the NZ taxpayer" has a right to know, and with all the expertise of reactionary views formed by reading newspapers, to decide the best way to deal with delicate, difficult issues.

Meantime, Ron Mark's boss, Winston Peters, is pushing for referenda to give the NZ public a say in the decisions that matter. The trouble is, that popular opinion is not always correct, and reliance on it for issues that require a complex combination of medical expertise, criminal law, and social issues rather than a rash summarial response in the media, is rule by the lowest common denominator.

And locking up hopelessly addicted drug addicts seems attractive. Sentencing all drug addicts to prison has unfortunate effects. One of these is to hook them into sources of supply that tend, by the fact that they are in prison for it, to be criminal.

It would be more effective for treatment in the community and connecting the ex-addict to a life that fulfills them. Punishment for what is a medical condition may make matters worse.

When that ex-newsreader was given home detention the media went on and on about privilege for the clean cut boy. The man that died of an overdose was proof that diversion applies even with "gang members". Those connections were maintained and would have been in prison for him. The man lost his life. Society lost little. The system did not fail him, he failed himself.

Why change a system that works for those who want to reintegrate because of the failure of one person who could not control his addiction? Because of prejudice. And why pass laws because of the stink that a minor player in parliament can kick up in the media? If we had a referenda controlled system, it seems we would.

See also: stuff.co.nz

New Zealand News - NZ - Reports into girls' deaths find fault with CYF

CYFS - Dysfunctional Dept

"The commissioner's investigation found a "fragmented approach" towards caring for the children."

CYFS has an organisational structure anomoly that makes little sense in terms of servicing its clients. Parents and children. Good case workers are in short supply. Even when excellent case workers are on the case, there are factors that make it more difficult for the parent to unstand how to benefit their children with CYFS. One of these factors is that each agency operates upon its manifesto and each one contacts the parents.

Now that sounds alright but when parents are experiencing the highly stressful family situation - the type of situation that gets CYFS called in - learning how to deal with it may not be an option. The parents, having to deal with persons from Youth Justice, social workers, mental health professionals, the police, laywers,. teachers, parents and friends is more stressful than it would be if there was just one or two professionals making contact instead of six of them.

Ever since CYFS New Zealand News - NZ - Reports into girls' deaths find fault with CYF: "These were forwarded to a women's refuge but not to CYF as police decided there were no immediate safety concerns. "

New Zealand Herald - Latest News

P - How its done ... Series 1

The first step to seting up a P operation is to use a gun and hold up a pharmacy. Just down the road some guy walks into a pharmacy and using a weapon that could kill a person in just a moments decision, he sticks this weapon in your face and says "hand over the cash you ... " with language that has you gagging for air, and his hot breath is in your eyes and his friends start emptying the locked up cabinet of pseudoepherdrine cold pills with hand-held mini-axes and sawn-off iron-pipes making short work of your carpentry. The reving of the little black motor carried them all off in a whisker and a harsh minute later the cops arrived...

Wait a minute, it just happened, here, just down the road. Don't answer the door to any strange callers, honey. Lock the doors. This is real life.
New Zealand Herald - Latest News

New Zealand News - NZ - CYF head quits after bad review

CYFS Head Rolls

The criticised head of CYFS Jackie Pivac has resigned two weeks after reading the writing on the wall. Her organisation, that undertakes work vital to the future of many kids that may not otherwise have a chance to survive in society, is badly organised. That is not to say that its function is flawed, but its organisation form has allowed it to be staffed with a variety of problems ranging from those who do the work of others to those who fail to do very much very quickly. The backlog is unacceptable at any level and strong uncompromising management is necessary to bring it about.

When it takes two weeks for an individual to fall on their sword and many painful months of difficulty in such a vital aspect of Government as care for kids in trouble, then perhaps the Minister should also consider her own future. Freshly activated National opposition spokesperson, Katherine Rich claims that the Government seeks to make the resigned head of the service into a scape goat. She is new at the game, but may come to realise that it is important to evolve new functions in depts and personnel attrition from the top down is sometimes the best move. Government Minister Ruth Dyson supported Ms Pivac's desire to "put the wider interests of the department first", but also praised her "enormous contribution".

Wait a minute. This is baby and bath water stuff. Jackie Pivac has build a microcosm that does good for some and yet serves other too slowly. When the paperwork is all out the window cost centres and returns are not understood and projects bleed money from each other. Poor management does not help. We suspect Jackie Pivac is a brilliant people person who has created a service that does good, but who has the same disrespect many of us have for vehicle log books or speed cameras, and failed to adminstrate a Government Department. Not bureaucratic enough.

Government Department need to be accountable to the public so accurate documentation is more than vital. If a hospital can do it, so can the department that helps find foster parents for kids who need them .

New Zealand News - NZ - CYF head quits after bad review