News: Addicted While Undercover, Hawaii Grabs MMJ Patients’ Guns [#124]

This Week in Drugs

This week, Sam and Sarah discuss the latest drug news. First, should a police officer who became addicted to heroin while working as an undercover narcotics investigator be able to sue the government — even if he was stealing from the police department? Next, a HUGE development in drug users’ constitutional rights is happening in Hawaii, where the police have told medical marijuana patients that they need to surrender any guns they own — the first time this has happened in any US state. Then, a government attorney actually changed her mind after reading a task force’s report on safe injection facilities (possibly the first time for that too!). And finally, CNBC claims that a nootropics company is knowingly selling products that are less effective than coffee. Are they ripping off consumers, or is there more to the story? We’ll discuss all of that and more, This Week in Drugs!

Big Stories:

• Police officer ‘who became addicted to heroin’ undercover can seek damages from Greater Manchester Police, court rules
• Honolulu, Hawaii Police Department tells medical marijuana patients they need to turn in their guns
• Chittenden State’s Attorney Calls for Safe Injection Sites
• CNBC story: This start-up raised millions to sell ‘brain hacking’ pills, but its own study found coffee works better
  • HVMN’s response
  • HVMN’s page explaining nootropics

Headlines:

• During the Thursday afternoon press briefing, the acting secretary of Health and Human Services announced that President Trump would be donating his third-quarter salary “to the planning and design of a large-scale public awareness campaign about the dangers of opioids.”
• A new Harris Poll commissioned by the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America found that more Americans think it’s dangerous to use social media or text while driving than to drive under the influence of marijuana. However, it’s not a big gap: 99% of respondents said it’s dangerous to use social media, while 91% said it’s dangerous to be under the influence of marijuana. It’s worth pointing out that texting while driving has been found to be about twice as dangerous as marijuana impairment.
• Following up on a story from a few months ago, the Asian Network of People Who Use Drugs announced this week that Apple *FINALLY* removed games seen as promoting Duterte’s war on drugs from the app store.
• Prosecutors in Massachusetts have announced that about 7,500 drug cases are going to be dismissed, due to the involvement of former chemist Sonja Farak, who was found to have been stealing drugs from evidence for over a decade. This is separate from the 21,839 cases dismissed due to Massachusetts chemist Annie Dookhan, who was discovered to be signing off on tests as positive without actually conducting them.

Forecast:

• This week: Although National Drug and Alcohol Facts Week isn’t until the end of January, high schools can register for the 11th annual Drugs & Alcohol Chat Day as of this week. Because registration is limited to the first 100 schools, it’s recommended that you sign up quickly!
• Coming months: India’s parliament will be considering a bill that would regulate both cannabis and opium. Introduced by Member of Parliament, Dharamvir Gandhi, wouldn’t regulate the drugs like alcohol for recreational consumption, but it would legalize the cultivation and usage of both for medicinal purposes. Currently, both are illegal throughout India, but their use is widespread, particularly in the more rural parts of the country.

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The post News: Addicted While Undercover, Hawaii Grabs MMJ Patients’ Guns [#124] appeared first on This Week in Drugs.