Australia: Cop Watch

The roundup this week - dodgy riot gear, shooting French photographers, senior coppers being 4 times over the legal limit, dodgy promotions in NSW, more terrorism powers in WA and drug-dealing coppers in Melbourne (it is alleged).

The August 7 Sunday Telegraph reports that NSW police is facing an $800,000 fine for not providing proper riot gear for police during the riot last year in Redfern. The riot took place after the death of a local Koori boy, TJ Hickey, while being followed by police.

Workcover has recommended NSW Police be charged with negligence on the basis that helmets, shields and other riot equipment held at Redfern police station were old, broken or worn and that nothing was done to replace them.

The helmets were too big, the visors were so badly scratched that officers could not see through them, and the shields were too small to stop leg injuries.

The man responsible for ensuring that police had the right gear was assistant commissioner Dick Adams. Dick Adams has meanwhile left the force on what are called medical grounds.

The August 7 Sun-Herald continues the grand tradition of the media peddling human interest stories to put police in a good light. The paper did a sympathetic piece on a former copper, Anthony Dilorenzo, who shot a man dead at Bondi Beach.

The victim was a French photographer called Roni Levi. Levi waded fully clothed into the Bondi surf carrying a kitchen knife - no one knows why. When he returned to land, however, the police surrounded him and shot him dead using four bullets.

Differing versions of the events occurred, but at least some witnesses on the promenande say that the man posed no threat to the officers, let alone enough of a threat to shoot him four times.

All fairly straight-forward it seems - officers doing a difficult job under difficult circumstances and so on, till it was alleged that both officers were coked off their little heads. Both coppers had spent the previous night at a party with alcohol and cocaine till just before their 6.00am shift.

What a shame, then, that neither copper was tested for alcohol or drugs, to show whether or not they were under the influence of alcohol or coked off their little piggy faces. However, Mr Dilorenzo did confess to being a regular cocaine user and was discharged from the force.

Mr Podesta, the other copper who pumped bullets into the French photographer at point blank range, was later convicted on drugs charges and also left the police service.

The August 4 Herald Sun reports that famous Aboriginal actor David Gulpilil has had his license removed for 12 months after an alcohol-related driving offence.

The star of Walkabout and The Tracker was caught with a blood-alcohol reading of .093 on July 17. This will no doubt come of some comfort to a police inspector who was caught driving with .236, according to the July 25 Sydney Morning Herald.

The drink-driving copper, Inspector Lee Philip Renshaw, had his day in Hobart Magistrates Court where he will return in the future. Till the small matter of being four times over the legal limit is sorted out, the Tasmanin Police Comimssioner has told Renshaw that he is not able to exercise any of his powers as a police officer pending the outcome of this matter.

That will teach him a lesson.

NSW police meanwhile want to promote more grunting gorillas by emphasising the importance of practical experience.

An August 9 report says that NSW police officers who want to be promoted to the dizzying heights of sergeant will go through an application process that will take more consideration of their operational experience.

Although a backward step for those people still silly enough to hope for any sort of reform in the police force, it is at least better than the system at the time of the Wood Royal Commission into the NSW Police Service in 1997. This system was described as being one where, in order to be promoted, an officer had to be quote warm but vertical unquote.

The warm but vertical comment (above) was made by none other than the Police Commissioner in NSW, Mr Moroney, who also said that until the early 1990s you could almost pinpoint to a day on which those before you were retiring ... and determine when your next promotion was going to be.

The NSW Minister for Police, Mr Anderson, said the changes to the policing system were quote tailored towards the police officer who has an understanding of what's happening out there... rather than one who simply wants to sit down and study a book. unquote

You couldn't make it up.

But there are police complaints systems such as the Police Integrity Commission in NSW. The August 9 Sydney Morning Herald reports that the outgoing inspector of the Police Integrity Commission has called for an extension of power to be made to his successor so that he can investigate a broader number of officers.

Morris Ireland, QC, whose term in office expires at the end of August, has called on the state government to allow his successor to be able to investigate more officers than he can at present. Mr Ireland, in his annual inspector's report, called for the powers to be widened to include agencies such as the NSW Crime Commission.

An example of where this would have been more useful, says Mr Ireland, would have been Operation Florida, where it seems that most police north of Manly were involved in cocaine trafficking. The Operation was a three-year undercover investigation into links between police and known criminals in the distribution of cocaine across Sydney and targeted 300 members of the NSW Police Service.

The new Police Integrity Commission's head will be Justice James Wood. Justice Wood has been a NSW Supreme Court judge since 1984 and will retire at the end of this month. He is the same Justice Wood that headed the royal commission into police corruption in NSW from 1994 to 1997. Although the report makes sensational reading, very few coppers have actually served any time as a result of the report's revelations.

By now, you may be thinking that coppers are the last people you want to give more powers to, but this is not to be the case. The Western Australian Government will introduce new counter-terrorism laws to satisfy police demands. The new powers will grant police special powers to search, apprehend and detain people suspected of terrorist activities. The legislation has not yet been introduced into Parliament, but Dr Dr Gallop says the powers will need to be used 'responsibly'.

WA Police Commissioner, Karl O'Callaghan, has welcomed the proposed package which the WA Police put forward to the state government in the first place.

From terrorism to drugs... The Australian reports on August 10 that one of the crack cops in Victoria made thousands of dollars from supplying drugs to the Bandidos motorcycle gang and members of the Moran crime family - allegedly.

The jury in the trial of (Detective Senior Sergeant) Wayne Geoffrey Strawhorn was told that the copper made a mint from his connections, ending in a threat to kill against an internal affairs detective who was investigating the state's now disbanded drugs squad.

On March 15, 2003, Mr Strawhorn was taped making threats to kill Inspector Peter De Santo - allegedly. He said quote the bottom line is my life at Vicpol is over ... I will not rest until De Santo is dead ... I have to (kill him). It is the only way to get satisfaction. unquote

The former copper known as Strawhorn has pleaded not guilty to five counts of trafficking in pseudoephedrine. He also denies a sixth charge of making a threat to kill the ethical standards department detective.

The trial, as they say, continues.

By Julie Smith posted 14 August 05

Related:

Assaulted, intimidated or harassed in custody?
"Then make an Apprehended Violence Order application against the police, says assault victim Ms Teresa Kiernan.

NSW Police Force: 2 dead, $1 million dollars to catch a thief?
NSW police have expressed concern about their response to the Macquarie Fields riots in south-western Sydney after a police pursuit that killed two young youths Dylan Rayward 17, and Mathew Robertson, 19 that went horribly wrong.

OUR STORIES MUST BE TOLD. THEY HAVE TO BE
On Sunday 13th February, a Community gathering will be held to enable all people to remember the death of one of our young Community members, 'TJ' Hickey.

Vic police chief moves to sack officers
The Chief Commissioner of Victoria Police, Christine Nixon, has moved to dismiss two police officers as part of a crackdown on corruption and says up to 20 more dismissals could follow.

Vic flop cop warns there's more corruption
Victorian Police Chief Commissioner, Christine Nixon, says Victorians should brace themselves for more evidence of police corruption.

Vic police corruption report tabled in Parliament
The Victorian Ombudsman's report on the Ceja Taskforce and drug related corruption in Victoria police has been tabled in State Parliament.

Bent police compromise Bulldogs gang-rape case
Deputy Commissioner Dave Madden could have compromised gang-rape investigation? Steve Mortimer resigned!

More NSW Police Corruption?
Line of fire? [Bullshit! Line of Lick Arse Noble Cause NSW Corrupt Cops] (clockwise from top left) Deputy Commissioner Dave Madden, Assistant Commissioner Peter Parsons, Superintendent Dave Swilkes, Assistant Commissioner Bob Waites and Superintendent Dave Owens.

NSW Cop suspect in murder?
A sacked Sydney police officer has finished giving testimony at a hearing into his corrupt activities over the past eight years. Christopher John Laycock was yesterday recalled to the witness stand at the Police Integrity Commission (PIC).

Corrupt NSW police officer sacked
New South Wales Police Commissioner Ken Moroney has sacked an officer who confessed to being involved in corrupt activities over the past eight years.

Policeman draws blank on fake raids
A suspended Sydney policeman has told an inquiry that he has "little recollection" of the details of fake police raids he set up.

Officer planned to kidnap criminals
A senior Sydney police officer who has admitted taking money for tipping off a child porn suspect had also been planning to kidnap criminals and extort money from them, the Police Integrity Commission heard yesterday.

Police offer protection to family following gang rape allegations
The parents of a 14-year-old girl claim their daughter was gang-raped in Sydney earlier this year, and have raised concerns about corrupt policeman Detective Sergeant Christopher Laycock's review of the case.

NSW police prosecutor charged with child porn possession
A New South Wales police prosecutor has been charged with the possession of child pornography.

Police, teachers charged in child porn bust
One-hundred-and-fifty people, including police officers and teachers, have been arrested in what the Federal Police (AFP) describe as Australia's biggest Internet child pornography bust.

A corrupt way to treat the community?
I seen the police bleeding on Nine's Sunday program arguing that promotion should depend on how many crimes police have solved and not how many brains they have and that was coming from police commissioner Ken Moroney and Police Minister John Watkins?

Judges Blood Sample: After the fact of the fact of a hangover?
Lawyers say New South Wales Supreme Court judge Jeff Shaw should not give police his own sample of blood taken after he crashed his car near his Sydney home last month.

NSW police drug amnesty under review
A drug amnesty for the New South Wales police force is under review, Police Commissioner Ken Moroney has said.

Police to uphold law not decide mental health
A diagnosis of mental illness could be made over the phone instead of in person, and involuntary psychiatric patients could lose the right to have their case reviewed by a magistrate, under proposed changes to NSW mental health laws.

Redfern police need education not weapons
According to the description of one senior police officer, the ACLO called out on the afternoon before the Redfern violence escalated was "hopeless, intoxicated and had no driver's licence."

Bulldogs simply not the best!
SIMPLY NOT THE BEST AND DEFINITELY NOT BETTER THAN ANYONE, ANYONE I'VE MET.

Clive Small, NSW Inspector Gadget
NSW Police has revived controversial plans for a specialist discriminative squad to tackle the wave of violent crime that has plagued Sydney's south-west for more than a decade.

2,500, crooked detectives? Or a corrupt Government?
The Wood Royal Commission into police corruption. Where did the police learn their trade skills? Led by example perhaps?

Australia's Political Underworld...And their enforcers
The promotion of law and order means money to big business. Profits from insurance, security fixtures, patrol services and the like can only continue to grow if the perceived threat of uncontrollable crime wave escalates. In the past few months there have been many examples of the true nature of our blood thirsty politicians and their sinister attempts to spoon-feed a not so gullible public with their repetitious rhetoric.

Lord Denning
Interesting how a member of the Police Board Mr. Tim Priest would hold grave fears for his safety from dangerouse senior police but fails to name them or have them sacked. Rather Priest resigns as if he had no powers. Could that mean what he was saying is that the Governments are also corrupt?

Black Nexus
The Separation of Powers Doctrine is nowcontaminated witharangeofcolours, now leaving us with a black shirt on a once blue bridge that crossed that thin blue line. The 'Amery and Woodham show'.

Partners in crime - history!
Roger Rogerson, the old hero, who never faced a result in the Lanfranchy, or Huckstepp murders, was let off in my opinion when the New South Wales Government rolled the legal system (deciding what evidence to give the police prosecutor) to have the jury believe the illusion they (the Government wanted to create).Similarly, Peter Ryan facing the Police Integrity Commission for questions about his involvement in the demise of the dysfunctional reform unit. Chess in the court (rolling the legal system).

Police Chronology 1994-2001
View events in the NSW Police Force since the Wood Royal Commission began in 1994. 1994 May Justice James Wood is appointed Commissioner of the Royal Commission into the NSW Police Service ('WRC').

Federal Police

AFP: The unlikely CRIMINAL
It was born of a bombing and it made its name after a far more devastating act of terrorism. But for most of the 25 years in between, little was known about the Australian Federal Police force or the work it did.

UN links herb smokers to terrorism?

UN links herb smoker...?

Antonio Maria Costa: "We know that even the occasional marijuana smoker is a link in a much longer and more dangerous chain."???

Lighting a cigarette--linked to bushfires!

Motor vehicles emissions--linked to cancer!

Alcohol linked--to corporate takerism!

Would you mind telling us why other dangerous products and legal drugs are not included in the UN'shit list?

Big Pharma linked to--WHOM?

Ford and Holden linked to--WHOM?

Mazda linked to--Zoom, Zoom Zoom!

Oil linked to-- greed and war!

And he tipped his hat and said 'happy motoring'...

ABC - SPECIAL: The United Nations drug agency has warned that even occasional use of marijuana is a link in a long and dangerous cycle of crime, degradation and terrorism.

I can see the versatility with those links now? All pot smokers are urban terrorists? Great way to curb the habit? Lock em all up and rendition them to china?

ABC: "The links between organised crime, drug trafficking, drug consumption, drug money, arms trafficking and terrorism become clearer every day," said Antonio Maria Costa, executive director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

But not the link between organised governments, oil, corporations, big pharma, breweries, and tobacco? I wonder why that is?

Antonio Maria Costa: " We know that even the occasional marijuana smoker is a link in a much longer and more dangerous chain."

Just like a rock-- is linked to an-- earthquake?

We also know that even the occasional driver, pill popper, smoker and drinker is linked in a much longer and more dangerous chain. So what! All matter is linked no doubt.

In a message to mark an international anti-drug day, UN secretary-general Kofi Annan warned that drugs are "little more than tickets to a dead end."

Just like Central Governments, Wars, Big Phama, Texico Oil, Holden, and Ford perhaps, and also like some other corporate media giants.

Governments marked the day with drug bonfires, and, in the case of China, by executing convicted drug traffickers.

Beauty? We could start with hoWARd?

Is this another attack on the indigenous people of Afghanistan or what?

In Afghanistan, where the UN has warned that narcotics trafficking is undermining the country's fragile security, officials put almost 60 tons of opium, heroin and hashish to the torch, according to General Mohammad Daud, the deputy minister for counter-narcotics.

What has that got to do with smoking herbs you might ask?

Afghanistan is the world's largest drug producer and supplies almost 90 per cent of the opium used to make heroin.

In Burma, the world's second largest drug producer, the military regime used the occasion of the anti-drugs day, as it does every year, to burn a huge stash of opium, heroin, marijuana and methamphetamines at a ceremony attended by diplomats and foreign journalists.

In China, still conditioned by the awareness that opium ravaged previous generations and opened the door to foreign imperialists, the Government marked anti-drug day by executing dozens of traffickers.

Is that a joke son? Perhaps Geoff Raby can put that on his Human Rights agenda with Minister Shen Guofang in the current discussions about Australia and China's human rights records.

In the southern city of Guizhou, 24 people were convicted of trafficking this weekend, and five were immediately executed with a bullet in the neck, according to official media.

The Vienna-based UNODC, which was to publish its annual report in Stockholm on Wednesday, estimates that 200 million people are users of illicit drugs around the world, with 40 million of those chronically addicted.

But killing people is good way to solve the problem? Immediately executed, but I wonder, 'were they given a fair trial'? That's what you call setting an example?

Thought police

Illicit drugs don't include central governments, corporations, big pharma, oil companies? The tobacco industry? Or even the Alcohol industry? Mmmmm!

'Tickets to a misinformed end me thinks'

ABC: In his message, Mr Annan said that drugs "might have names that sound colourful or enticing, such as crack, pot, junk, crystal meth and disco biscuits".

"But these are little more than tickets to a dead end," he said.

But not unlike illegal and degrading wars? Inhumane and degrading treatment of prisoners, torture, and the Coalition of the Killing I suppose? As well as george w bushit, tony blurter, john hoWARd, oil, plonk, fags, diazepam, piss, Johnny Walker, Jack Daniels, or even margaritas? Not even a Tooheys or two?

But at last some good advice

As one means of combating drugs, Mr Annan recommended "participation in sports to improve health and well-being, teach the value of teamwork and discipline, and build self-confidence".

As long as it's not military training in the special-forces or army to improve teamwork, discipline, and to build self-irrationalism then that's okay!

All things in moderation can help as well and also to stay away from things that might harm you if you know about it that is?

A good place to start would be to stop illegal and degrading wars, killing, maiming and torture, motor vehicles, harmful products and some of the legal drugs first so the government's and corporations can set an example for the rest of us?

War in Afghanistan

ABC: "In Afghanistan, last year's poppy crop was the largest in history "because everyone thought they could grow poppy with impunity," said Habibullah Qaderi, the minister in charge of counter-narcotics.

He said that Afghanistan had "turned the corner" in the fight against drug trafficking, but Mr Costa said recently that while the area planted with poppies was shrinking, the productivity for each hectare was increasing.

Afghan and Western officials have said several senior officials, including provincial governors and police chiefs, were involved in the narcotics business.

Mr Costa, who also heads the UN's Vienna office, said "traffickers, warlords and insurgents in Afghanistan control quasi-military operations" in a trade that last year was estimated to be worth $A3.6 billion.

Burma, where the ruling military is accused by the United States of participating in the drugs trade, says it has destroyed drugs with a street value of almost $19.5 billion and slashed its production of opium.

Nevertheless, UNODC says at least 1.15 million people still depend on poppy crops, and narcotics produced in Burma continue to flood Asian markets, Europe and North America.

Despite draconian punishments for traffickers, the drug problem is getting worse in China, and contributing to the spread of AIDS through the sharing of contaminated needles.

The official China Youth Daily said the number of drug addicts in China reached 791,000 at the end of last year, an increase of 6.8 per cent on a year earlier.

But the official figure is "just the tip of the iceberg," legal scholar Pi Yijun told the Beijing News. The real figure, he said, is "shocking".

Still, the drugs agency was able to point to a few successes in the war against drugs, including Laos, which for the first time in many years is no longer consider a supplier of illegal opiates to the world market."

But what has all that got to do with smoking herbs in Australia? Nothing! Just more propaganda so the government can send troops to Afghanistan to help out with the occupation and to get everyone else hooked on legal drugs that they benefit from and can procure.

By Bud Hemp and Bongo Jack 27 June 05

Related:

Howard off to US, UK - part 5
PART-5- PRIME minister john hoWARd will meet US president george w buSHIT, British prime minister tony blair and queen 'imperialism' herself during a 10-day visit to the United States and the UK next month.

Searching for resistance in Afghanistan
Tribal leaders listen in a meeting in Miana Shien, Kandahar province, southern Afghanistan, on Saturday in an attempt to end the fighting that has killed more than 175 freedom fighters since Tuesday.

Court: Patients May Not Use Pot Legally?
US: WASHINGTON - People who smoke marijuana because their doctors recommend it to ease pain can be prosecuted for violating federal drug laws, the Supreme Court ruled Monday, overriding medical marijuana statutes in 10 states.

People: 'Prisoners' of Drugs'
People who are addicted to heroin usually take the drug because it relieves them of problems such as low self-esteem, distrust and fear of abandonment. They may have poor communication skills & poor relationship skills.

THE DEATH PENALTY - WORLDWIDE
During 2004, at least 3,797 people were executed in 25 countries. At least 7,395 people were sentenced to death in 64 countries. These figures are only reported cases - the true figures were certainly much higher - many countries continue to execute people in secret.

Four Corners [Walls]: Messing with your intellect

Four Walls: "Imagine taking every single emotion, memory, experience, tablet all into one... and those fighting each other to see who is the victor." - Danny, 22.

"It just f... with your head. I had to sleep with a knife under my bed 'cos I used to think people were going to come in and bash me during the night or something. Just for me mull or something, yeah." - Danni, 17. "

But obviously Danny has a mental problem most likely paranoid schizophrenia a problem that insidiously had been there long before he took up smoking?

Four Walls: "A whole generation of Australians has grown up believing that smoking pot is a harmless pastime."

That's because smoking pot is harmless to most Australians except for those who have some mental problems about 1 per cent of the population.

Four Walls: "They need to think again? The view of cannabis as a benign drug is under challenge - not from conservative family or religious groups but from the science and medical community. [corporations and government.] Clinicians now believe that modern strains of super-strength cannabis are increasingly triggering psychoses, depression and anxiety disorders in teenagers."

They need to think again if they have a mental problem like schizophrenia, because pot which is only a herb can make you more paranoid when you first start smoking it, but after a while that diminishes when the other well know benefits are felt. That is if you haven't got a mental illness.

Four Walls: "Many young people begin smoking cannabis before they have even hit their teens? - And experts are warning that the younger the smoker, the greater the risk of mental illness."

What else did they begin consuming? And like if your mother gives it to you when you're a baby then the experts warning makes sense? For instance what would petrol sniffing do to young people?

Four Walls: "About half the young people who seek help for psychosis have a cannabis problem."

So how many have an alcohol problem? How many of those had a mental illness before they had a cannabis problem?

For instance everybody has a shit as well but not all people who have a shit have a mental problem, so the dear doctor's diagnosis is flawed and pro-government?

Four Walls: "According to doctors the proportion of cannabis users among these young patients has doubled in 20 years?

"For some teenagers there is no second chance. Ten to 15 per cent of young people with serious mental illnesses commit suicide or die from other causes within a few years of diagnosis."?

But mental health has its own problems that are yet to be diagnosed and treated because of lack of funding?

Of course cannabis is popular. The proportion of cannabis users with mental illness merely points out that it is a popular herb, taken by a large section of the population some with mental illness.

Perhaps the consumer should understand what works and what doesn't when they have a mental illness? A mental illness, which does not agree with the herb and should not be taken with a mental illness.

Four Walls: "Even for those who do recover, only half return to meaningful work or study?"

What with a mental illness? Makes lots of sense like disability, only half of them return to meaningful work or study!

Four walls:

Q: "And Jake how old were you when you started smoking?"
A: "Twelve."
Q: "And when did it become a problem for you, how old were you?"
A: "About 14 I started smoking regularly." - Jake, 18.

Q: "Where would you be if you never smoked pot?"
A: "Still be at school. I.... didn't even pass year eight." - Sam, 16."

Common Sense

Q: And Bud how old were you when you started smoking?
A: Seventeen
Q: And when did it become a problem for you, how old were you?
A: It never became a problem and I am 47 years old and I don't have a mental illness. What about that!
Q: Where would you be if you never smoked pot?
A: That's a hypothetical question. How long is a piece of string?

Four Walls: "So what accounts for this new concern about cannabis and youth psychoses?"

Beats me it's probably pro-government spin because if you look into the statistics of how many of our youth are affected by alcohol and what that drug does to people you wouldn't be so concerned about cannabis which is at best a herb!

Four Walls: "About half the young people who seek help for psychosis have a cannabis problem."

What about alcohol? What proportions of the mentally ill patients who seek help for psychosis have an alcohol problem? Strange how the fact that they also had a shit and most likely had taken alcohol, but those figures were not realised in the promotion of the Four Walls segment.

One does wonder what this story was really all about? And if you ask me THIS IS a story about MENTAL ILLNESS on top of consumerism and as we all know consumerism is ripe! So what has the story got to do with smoking herbs?

High strains of the herb as suggested - Clinicians now believe that modern strains of super-strength cannabis are increasingly triggering psychoses, depression and anxiety disorders in teenagers.

But what a load of rubbish. Smokers of the high strains don't suffer adversely unless as I have said they already have a mental illness. Add anything to a mental illness and obviously you're in trouble.

So this story is really about MENTAL ILLNESS!

Alcohol abuse:

Alcoholism, also known as alcohol dependence, is a disease. Alcoholism is a chronic, often progressive disease with symptoms that include a strong need to drink despite negative consequences, such as serious job, relationships, or health problems.

Like many other diseases, it has a generally predictable course, has recognized symptoms, and is influenced by both genetic and environmental factors that are being increasingly well defined.

About prevalence and incidence statistics:

The term 'prevalence' of Alcohol abuse usually refers to the estimated population of people who are managing Alcohol abuse at any given time.

The term 'incidence' of Alcohol abuse refers to the annual diagnosis rate, or the number of new cases of Alcohol abuse diagnosed each year. Hence, these two statistics types can differ: a short-lived disease like flu can have high annual incidence but low prevalence, but a life-long disease like diabetes has a low annual incidence but high prevalence.

Prevalence of alcohol use in 1999

Experience with alcohol was high amongst secondary students, with use becoming more common as age increased. By the age of 14 around 90% of students had tried alcohol and by the age of 17 over 70% of students had drunk alcohol in the month prior to the survey.

The proportion of students drinking in the week prior to the survey (defined here as current drinkers) increased with age from around 22% of 13-year-olds to reach a peak of 55% among 17-year-olds.

Hazardous drinking was defined as having eight or more drinks in one day for boys and six or more drinks in one day for girls. Of current drinkers aged between 12 and 15 years, 12% of boys and 13% of girls had engaged in hazardous drinking in the previous week. Among 16-17-year-old current drinkers, 38% of boys and girls had drunk at a hazardous level in the preceding week.

Some type of spirit (eg vodka, scotch, rum) was the most common type of drink consumed by drinkers of all ages. Allowing for multiple responses, the most commonly consumed alcoholic drinks were spirits (47%), beer (33% ordinary beer; 5% low alcohol beer), alcoholic sodas (20%), wine (11%) and liqueurs (10%). While more girls than boys drank alcoholic soda, more boys than girls drank beer.

Across all age groups, 15% of boys and 12% of girls bought their last alcoholic drink.

Buying alcohol was related to age and increased from 5% of 14-year-old boys and girls to 42% of boys and 30% of girls aged 17.

Parents were the most common source of alcohol with 38% of boys and 32% of girls indicating their parents gave them their last drink?

The three main places for students to drink were the family home, a friend's home or a party. Over all age groups, 21% of students had not received any lessons about alcohol use in the previous school year, while 39% had received more than one lesson about this topic.

Four Walls: "Recent research shows that the human brain does not fully develop until a person reaches their twenties. Teenage brains, therefore, are more vulnerable than adults to cannabis."?

And what else? ALCOHOL

Modern technology multiplies the dangers. Hydroponically grown, [lettuce] genetically modified varieties of marijuana [Lettuce] plants are believed to contain much greater concentrations of the chemical THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol. [Just plain Rubbish] Cannabis is cheap, too, making it more easily available to today's teenagers than it was for their parents' generation.

And what else? ALCOHOL

In this wake-up call to a disturbing new trend, young cannabis users in treatment for psychoses speak openly about their experiences to reporter Janine Cohen, while doctors and drug specialists explain what the new research means for young people's mental health.

Don't let them Mess With Your INTELLECT

1. ALCOHOL Background

Drinking alcohol by adults is both widely accepted and expected within the Australian community.

Correspondingly, alcohol is seen as a pleasant social beverage rather than a drug, with most people drinking in moderation and in a non-addictive manner. Because alcohol use is so accepted within the Australian community, limited use of alcohol by adolescents is often sanctioned by adults.

However, unsupervised and/or excessive use of alcohol by young people, while generally not sanctioned, is not uncommon.

Excessive use of alcohol by adolescents has been associated with long-term ill health as well as immediate harm-related behaviours such as drunk driving, accidental injuries, risky sexual behaviour and violent behaviours.

The extent of harm associated with alcohol use among adolescents and young adults is reflected in recent health-related statistics showing that alcohol dependence and its harmful effects is one of the leading causes of disease and injury burden among people between the ages of 15 and 24 years.

Preventing the abuse of alcohol among adolescents has been identified as one way of reducing the human and financial costs associated with alcohol abuse.

Young people are therefore a major target group for policies and programs aimed at reducing excessive use of alcohol. Education programs to inform adolescents about the dangers of the excessive use of alcohol and the negative consequences of getting drunk have been conducted since the 1980s.

National prevalence surveys conducted triennially since 1984 suggested that the introduction of these programs was associated with a decrease in the prevalence of drinking among students.

However, this trend seemed to be reversed in the early 1990s with increases in the prevalence of alcohol use being found between 1990 and 1996.

Australia was not the only country for which an increase in the prevalence of alcohol use was found among adolescents. Canada also noted that the prevalence of alcohol use among students increased between 1993 and 1999 and that this was accompanied by an increase in the proportion of students drinking five or more drinks in a row.5 In the United States of America, the results of the Monitoring the Future studies suggested that while the proportion of Year 12 students using alcohol in the previous year decreased during the 1980s, usage levels remained stable in the early to mid 1990s and increased slightly between 1996 and 1999.

Understanding current trends in the prevalence of alcohol use among secondary students in Australia is essential for planning and implementing appropriate interventions and campaigns.

This report had two aims. The first was to describe the alcohol-drinking behaviours of Australian secondary students in 1999. The behaviours focused on were the prevalence of never drinking, drinking in the year, month and week preceding the survey, drinking at hazardous levels, types of drinks consumed, sources of alcohol and places where students drink. The second aim was to examine both short and long-term trends in the prevalence of alcohol use among Australian secondary students. For this the 1999 prevalence estimates were compared first with those from a similar survey of students conducted in 1996, and secondly with those from similar surveys conducted every three years since 1984.3,7,8,9,10,11

The 1999 survey was a collaborative project between state member organisations of the Australian Cancer Society, state health and education departments and the Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged Care.

By Janine Cohen and Just Us posted 8 March 05

Related:

Community links Ellison to corporate greed, organised crime, politics The Federal fascist Government has accused Western Australian Premier Geoff Gallop of fostering organised crime under laws allowing people to grow small amounts of cannabis?

People: 'Prisoners' of Drugs'
According to an Australian Medical Association report, 83% of prisoners behind bars are there as a result of drug-related offences. In a NSW study it showed the frequent amount of burglaries depended on the rate of spending money on drugs. Neil Comrie, Victorian Police estimates 70% of all criminal activity is drug related. Inadequate treatment services as well as treatment of drug addiction as a crime, rather than a health issue has criminalised a huge number of people.

NSW police drug amnesty under review
A drug amnesty for the New South Wales police force is under review, Police Commissioner Ken Moroney has said. Under the amnesty, police officers who have come forward to say that they have used illegal drugs, are treated by rehabilitation counsellors.

One in six youth deaths caused by alcohol: report
ALMOST one in six deaths amongst young Australians can be attributed to the irresponsible consumption of alcohol, research by the National Drug Research Institute (NDRI) has revealed.

POSSESSION? OR INVASION?
UK: This absolutely preposterous idea/theory of allowing a person/s to be possibly charged with 'possession', if found to have a drug substance within their bloodstream, just goes to prove such hypocrisies which certain hierarchies feel justifies passing legislation, is another blow for democracy!

Prison guards test positive for drugs
NSW prison visitors banned from using the toilet The visit is only for about one hour and any thing less than that is an insult. If it's proved that a visitor has broken the rules the punishment should apply to them. But collective punishment on all visitors should not be made general when others haven't broken the rules especially if it restricts all visitors from normal human needs like using a toilet.

Big Pharma snared by net
UK The web has helped consumers turn tables on the drug giants, says Cheryll Barron.

Fremantle police at centre of missing cannabis claims
Western Australian Police Minister Michelle Roberts says cleaning up the Fremantle Police Station will be a big test for new Commissioner Karl O'Callaghan.

Research points to corporate journalists alcohol-schizophrenia link New research has revealed more evidence of a link between corporate media journalists and schizophrenia.

Canadian PM pledges to decriminalise marijuana
Prime Minister Paul Martin has pledged to reintroduce legislation this year to decriminalise the possession and use of small amounts of marijuana.

You're one of my kind?
Over 80% of the population consumed alcohol in the previous 12 months, with 11% of males and 6% of females drinking daily. In terms of risk of harm in the long term, 10% of males and 9% of females drank alcohol in a pattern that was risky or high risk. In terms of short-term risk, 24% of males and 17% of females drank at least once a month in a manner that was risky or high risk for short-term harm.

CWA wants pot legalised
PERCEIVED as the height of conservatism, the Country Women's Association has had a reputation for baking and handicrafts until now. The organisation yesterday confirmed it is seeking to have cannabis legalised for health reasons. A recommendation to be put forward to the annual meeting in May calls for the legalisation of the drug for the treatment of terminally ill patients.

Rape conviction rate falls to all-time low

UK: Convictions for reported rape cases have reached an all-time low because of a "culture of scepticism" among the police, according to Home Office research published last week.

The study finds that despite long-running efforts by the government to boost the conviction rate, only 5.6% of reported cases end in the rapist being convicted in court.

This represents a record low, with the conviction rate having fallen from 32% in 1977. While the last two decades have seen a continuing and unbroken increase in the reporting of rapes to the police by victims, it has not been matched by a similar rise in prosecutions or convictions.

The official study, A Gap Or a Chasm?, by researchers at the London Metropolitan University child and women abuse unit, says that part of the reason is that police and prosecutors overestimate the scale of false allegations made by victims.

This is feeding a "culture of scepticism", which in turn leads to poor communication and a loss of confidence between those who complain and the police.

The research says the most recent data from the British Crime Survey suggests that as many as one in 20 adult women have suffered at least one incident of rape since they were 16 and there may be as many as 47,000 such attacks every year.

Women are most likely to be raped by men they know and 50% involve repeated assaults by the same man. It is most likely to take place at home, with only 13% happening in a public place.

The Home Office research shows that of 11,766 allegations of rape made in 2002, only 655 resulted in convictions, and that includes those that were overturned on appeal. In only 258 cases did the rapist plead guilty at trial. The 2002 conviction rate - which is lower for rape than any other violent crime - fell from 6% in 2001.

"This year on year increase in attrition represents a justice gap that the government has pledged to address," says the study.

The researchers tracked 3,500 rape cases through the courts and interviewed 228 rape victims. While they conclude there was some evidence of poor investigation and lack of understanding of the law, the main problem was the culture of scepticism among both the police and prosecutors.

They say that rape is unique because in no other crimes were victims subject to such scrutiny in court or was the defendant so likely to claim the victim had consented to the attack. Between half and two-thirds of all cases are dropped before they come to court.

The reseachers suggest that more women police officers and crown prosecutors could help create a "culture of belief, support and respect" as well as a growing network of sexual assault referral centres and rape crisis centres. The development of "courtroom advocacy that does justice to the complainant's account" would also help.

The Home Office researchers also say that there needs to be an increased recognition of the significance of alcohol in rape and sexual assault, including further work on the extent to which men target unknown women who are drinking and the strategies they use to make contact.

By Alan Travis posted 28 February 05

Ed: I guess that casts doubt on claims that widespread DNA testing increases conviction rates for rape.

Related:

A gap or a chasm?
The views expressed in this report are those of the authors, not necessarily those of the Home Office (nor do they reflect Government policy). Home Office Research, Development and Statistics Directorate February 2005.

Child Offenders on Death Row

Recent Australian studies of alcohol and cannabis use show that girls are increasingly inclined to behave boldly. But boys out number the girls, two to one; and three to one in the juvenile justice system, mortality figures, speeding infringements and car crash statistics.

Boys are more likely to hit the headlines with anti-social acts, nightclub stabbings, physical abuse of parents, cruelty to animals, train-surfing, graffiti sessions and craziness that leads them astray.

Boys are more likely to present with neurological disorders associated with extreme impulsiveness and distractibility.

Counsellors, police, parents and school principals usually blame testosterone and an orgy of modern culprits - violent video games, explicit films and media images, spiritual anorexia, dislocated families, alcoholic beverages that taste like cordial and cost less than soft drink, mobile phones, rap music, premature puberty and a society that mollycoddles children who once roamed like free-range chooks.

But now science has harnessed technology to reveal evidence about brain development and gender differences that is leading to worldwide reviews of adolescent culpability and age-appropriate limits for drinking, driving and criminal charges.

The application of endocrinology, psychology, psychiatry, genetics and neuroscience with its magnetic resonance imaging tools has confirmed what parents of teenagers know instinctively. Maturity does not kick in at a precise chronologica point, and girls tend to be streets ahead of boys in their ability to conduct cost-benefit analysis of behaviour.

The U.S. Supreme Court will soon address the constitutionality of the death penalty for 17-year-old offenders based on scientific research that shows the human brain, particularly for males, continues to evolve in adolescence, reaching biological maturity at 21 or 22. The last regions to develop govern the mental ability to control impulses, planning, consideration of consequences, abstract reasoning and most probably moral judgement.

"To a certain degree this latest research simply confirms what we have always known or suspected about the brain development of 17-year-olds," the American Society for Adolescent Psychiatry says in a petition to the court. "While they often appear to be 'fully grown' physically and may seem to be functioning as adults, their judgement and impulse control are simply not those of adults.

Yes, they may know 'right from wrong' under an infancy defence or an insanity test but they nonetheless are lacking in fully adult-level functioning of their brains. They may make horrible decisions, and they act on impulse without thinking clearly through the consequences."

A court affidavit by neuro-psychologist Dr Ruben Gur summarises the brain anatomy data from groundbreaking studies conducted at Harvard, Stanford and Johns Hopkins medical schools and the National Institute of Health.

Scientists are intrigued by the brain development taking place in adolescence. The grey matter, or thinking part of the brain, peaks at around 11 years in girls and age 12 in boys, followed by a pruning stage which thins and eliminates excess connections. This process is accompanied by myelination, where the brain's white matter or "insulation" focuses and refines neural networks regulating behaviour.

Latest research suggests that myelination is the main index of maturation and that this insulation continues into the 20th year of life. Neurological teams are now investigating whether nature or nurture - genes, parenting, nutrients or other influences-determine this brain development.

Dr Jay Giedd of the National Institute of Mental Health has been scanning sets of twins. He has found that the corpus callosum - the thick cable of nerves that connects the two halves of the brain - is remarkably similar in twins but the cerebellum in the back of the brain which co-ordinates cognitive processes is not genetically controlled and changes most during the teen years.

The male brain is 10 per cent larger than the female brain, although this does not imply any advantage. IQs are similar. But there are differences between boys' and girls' brains in the size of certain structures and their developmental path.

Almost every neurological disorder is more common in boys- autism, dyslexia, learning disabilities, attention deficit and hyperactivity, Tourette's syndrome. Only anorexia nervosa afflicts mostly girls.

Studies tracking brain development from adolescence to adulthood have shown that males rely more heavily than females on the instinctual part of the brain. The frontal lobe, which develops more slowly in males than in females, undergoes dramatic change during teenage years and is the last part of the brain to develop. A small area of the frontal lobe, the prefrontal cortex, is like the body's chief executive. It controls our advanced level of consciousness responsible for prioritising thoughts, abstract thinking, language comprehension and expression, impulse control, planning and inhibition. As the frontal lobe is developing, there lease of adolescent hormones causes the amygdala, which governs emotional response, to fire up or expand.

Deborah Yurgelun-Todd of the Harvard Medical School has studied how teenagers and adults respond differently to the same images. Shown photos of faces contorted in fear, adults named the right emotion but teenagers seldom did, mistaking anxiety for anger.

When Yurgelun-Todd's team performed this test using magnetic resonance imaging to examine the brain's functions, they found that adults used the advanced prefrontal cortex and the amygdala to evaluate the image, while teenagers relied entirely on the amygdala. Older teenagers showed a progressive shift toward the front of the brain. "Just because teens are physically mature, they may not appreciate the consequences or weigh information the same way as adults do," Yurgelun-Todd says. "Good judgement is learned but you can't learn it if you don't have the necessary hardware."

This should explain, not excuse, anti-social behaviour and help in the design of programs and deterrence that minimise the potential for teenagers to harm themselves and others.

Historically, the ripening from adolescence to adulthood has been wrongfully guided by arbitrary age limits governing the right to vote, go to jail, enter the military, get married, have sex and even get the death sentence for certain crimes.

The Australian Coalition Against Death Penalty has incessantly discussed the issue of child offenders on death row with friendly officials at the American Embassy in Canberra.

ACADP has a webpage dedicated to the abolition of capital punishment for child offenders, which includes a short profile of a child offender on Texas death row. Leo's case has been used to educate Australian students of the dangers associated with youth, substance abuse and crime.

Leo Little was 17 years old when he committed his crime. Now aged 24, Leo told ACADP that he still has difficulties trying to understand and explain how he could have committed such a crime. Leo has no answers to his own questions.

Too young to vote, old enough to be executed

''People change. You know, to take somebody's life at 17 - you can't hold a 17-year-old by the same standards as you do me or you... I've made poor decisions, everybody does. But experience - you know, life - life is a teacher, and I know even today Napoleon is much better now than he was then.'' Rena Beazley, mother of Napoleon Beazley, May 2001(1)

By ACADP posted 13 December 04

The ACADP webpage on child offenders on death row can be found at the following Internet website: Source (ACADP and The Australian).
******************************************
AUSTRALIAN COALITION AGAINST DEATH PENALTY
© ACADP Incorporated ¨
******************************************
The Premier Australian Internet
Resource on Capital Punishment

Related:

US death row numbers don't change policy?
The number of prisoners on death row in the United States appears to be falling, mostly credited to a single Governor who commuted the sentences of all the death row prisoners in his state.

Despite Drop in Crime, an Increase in Inmates
US: The number of inmates in state and federal prisons rose 2.1 percent last year, even as violent crime and property crime fell, according to a study by the Justice Department released yesterday.

How Denying the Vote to Ex-Offenders Undermines Democracy
For starters, hundreds of thousands of people who are still eligible to vote will not do so this year because they will be locked up in local jails, awaiting processing or trials for minor offenses.

DNA Evidence of Bipartisanship
Last week the U.S. Congress passed the Justice for All Act, which includes provisions of the Innocence Protection Act. As of this posting, the legislation has not yet been signed by President Bush. Attached is an analysis of the legislation prepared by the Justice Project.

Our Two Priority Bills sent to White House
US: The 8th National CURE Convention last June lobbied on Capitol Hill the Innocence Protection Act in the Senate and the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Act of 2004 in the House. On Sunday, October 10th, Congress passed both bills and sent them to the President to be signed.

THE LAW IS AN ASS:
US: A Californian man who beheaded a german shepherd dog he had named after his girlfriend, has been sentenced to 25 years to life under California's three-strikes law.

EXTRADITION ACT FLUSHED DOWN THE TOILET
A long-standing convention not to extradite people out of Australia if they face the death penalty has been abandoned.

BIRTHDAY PROTEST BACKS INNOCENT MAN ON DEATH ROW:
Kids from 3 to 83 years old beat candy labeled "Justice" out of a big Texas-shaped piqata on Aug. 1 as dozens gathered in the Houston City Hall Park to celebrate the 30th birthday of Nanon Williams, an innocent person on Texas death row.

THE LAND OF BIBLES, GUNS, PATRIOTS AND THE 'WORLD ROLE MODEL' FOR HUMAN RIGHTS: The state of Alabama, USA, executed James Barney Hubbard. So what? ... you might say ... America executes prisoners almost every week!

Appealing a Death Sentence Based on Future Danger USA-HOUSTON, June 9 - Texas juries in capital cases must make a prediction. They may impose a death sentence only if they find that the defendant will probably commit more violent acts.

Forensics? In proposing a new death penalty for Massachusetts last month, Governor Mitt Romney offered firm assurance that no innocent people would be executed: Convictions, he said, will be based on science.

Silencing the Cells: Mass Incarceration and Legal Repression in U.S. Prisons People without a voice are not people in any meaningful sense of the word. Silenced people cannot express their ideas; they can neither consent nor protest. They are reduced to being pawns in the schemes of the powerful, mendicants who must accept whatever is imposed upon them. In order to keep people in a state of subjugation, silencing their voices is essential. Nowhere is this clearer than in U.S. prisons.

U.N. Group Seeks End To Executions The United States, Japan, China, India and Muslim nations including Saudi Arabia opposed the resolution. Burkina Faso, Cuba, Guatemala, South Korea and Sri Lanka abstained.

US: Execution Dear Friends, this is so sad especially for our dear friend, San Nguyen. San who lives in Oklahoma worked very hard with the rest of the Vietnamese community to stop Mr. Le's execution. You may remember San from being at CURE's First International Conference in New York City in 2001. San also plans to be at the 8th National Convention this June in Washington. Charlie

Please contact the Governor The Vietnamese-American Community, the ACLU, and many others want the March 30 execution of Huang Thanh Le commuted.

Cherie Blair attacks US over death penalty in Catholic paper Cherie Blair has renewed her attack on America's use of the death penalty. In a book review in the Catholic journal The Tablet, under her maiden name Cherie Booth, she says: "Capital cases are uniquely prone to error and thus call into question whether we can ever be really sure of obtaining the just result.

Death penalty: a lawyer sees the light The observation "Americans are from Mars and Europeans are from Venus" is illustrated by the two nations' differing reactions to the use of the death penalty as a legitimate punishment for murder.

OHIO: Judges join dissent on execution delay In Columbus, 5 federal appeals court judges say a convicted killer's request to delay his execution was illegally denied because 2 senior judges participated in the vote.

Stephen Romei: Death knell sounds for US capital law GEORGE Ryan gets my vote as Australian of the Year, even though he's the outgoing governor of the US state of Illinois. There's just no one I admire more right now, not even Greg's Kables Community News Newtwork..

Mexico Awaits Hague Ruling on Citizens on U.S. Death Row Sbaldo Torres, a convicted murderer on death row in Oklahoma, should have been dead by now, his appeals exhausted, his time up.

Jury Passes On Business Of Killing US: This drives the death penalty crowd in the legislature nuts. Yet another jury - another 12 men and women, tried and true, who had all attested to their belief in the death penalty - has refused to join in the killing business.

Ultimate Punishment Scott Turow has long juggled two careers‹that of a novelist and that of a lawyer. He wrote much of his first and best known legal thriller, Presumed Innocent, on the commuter train to and from work during the eight years he spent as an Assistant United States Attorney in Chicago, and he has churned out another blockbuster every third year since joining the firm of Sonnenschein Nath and Rosenthal in 1986.

A Question of Innocence Rubin Carter: Day after day, week after week, I would sit in that filthy cell, seething. I was furious at everyone. At the two state witnesses who lied, at the police who put them up to it, at the prosecutor who sanctioned it, at the judge who allowed it, at the jury who accepted it, and at my own lawyer, for not being able to defeat it.

Amnesty steps up campaign to abolish death penalty Human rights watchdog Amnesty International is urging people around the world to pressure countries to abolish the death penalty.

'LAND OF THE FREE' SET TO EXECUTE TWO PRISONERS BY FIRING SQUAD: Wanted: Willing executioners for two convicted murderers. Must be psychologically sound and familiar with .30-calibre rifles. No victims' relatives need apply.

TEXAS EXECUTES 300th PRISONER Keith Clay was executed tonight, becoming the 300th prisoner in Texas to die by lethal injection since the rogue state resumed the death penalty 20 years ago.

AUSTRALIAN COALITION AGAINST DEATH PENALTY " ... Our nation was built on a promise of life and liberty for all citizens. Guided by a deep respect for human dignity, our Founding Fathers worked to secure these rights for future generations, and today we continue to seek to fulfil their promise in our laws and our society.

Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty Please note the following article carefully.....it shows clearly the hateful, uncaring and anti-human rights attitude as reflected by the Governor of Texas (and most other elected Texas officials).

Bush rules out death sentence review US President George W Bush says has dismissed any chance of a review of America's system of capital punishment.

Amnesty urges Bush to shut death row Human rights watchdog Amnesty International has urged US President George W. Bush to take a "moral stand" and abolish the death penalty after the Illinois Governor dramatically emptied that state's death row.

USA - A NATION IN TURMOIL: As the year 2002 draws to a close, little if anything, has changed in the United States in regards to state-sanctioned killing. Various campaigns, calls for clemency, petitions, and international condemnation, have failed to humanize U.S. politicians.

Here come de Judge - Time to Leave [266]
There have always been examples of rulings and interpretations that have supported the saying "The law is an ass". This is increasingly the case, because even the best intentioned judges are now facing an avalanche of new technologies and social change. But, it is no good making excuses for the judiciary and continuing to accept their strange interpretations. We must recognise that not only judges but the whole legal system will struggle more and more. In the end the whole system will become a farce. This is the way empires end.

Carr policy jails oldest woman

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