One time it really was! – Recent questions about the death of Michael Jackson have focused media attention on the commonly used intravenous anesthetic propofol, since an autopsy revealed large amounts of this drug in his body. The doctor who prescribed it wasn’t trying to kill him, but researchers have found a case 5 years ago where the drug was used as a murder weapon.
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We’ve put up a gigantic fence, so now criminals and immigrants are digging tunnels along the US border instead, and the pace is picking up: 60% of all the tunnels every found by border patrol agents have been discovered in the last three years. Agents spot a new one every month.
While most tunnels are used to move drugs or people, they could also be used to move in weapons and explosives for a terrorist attack. Tunnels are a serious challenge for border patrol agents because they can begin and end almost anywhere; their entrances and exits are often hidden inside old warehouses or under trees; if old ones are discovered, new ones are quickly begun.
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As we’ve said before, the war against drugs is a very silly war, and when we fight it, we often encourage the very things we’re trying to prevent.
The idea behind tough policing of illegal drugs is to drive dealers out of the market, thus making supplies scarce and driving up the price (this is basic economics). But it turns out that their actions LOWER the price of drugs, encouraging more people to use them.
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You may have cleaned up your act, but if you experimented with drugs in the past, you could be infected with hepatitis C.As many as 400,000 people in the U.K. may be infected without knowing it, and even more in the U.S., because there can be a 20 year delay between the infection and the symptoms. You could be in danger not only if you’ve ever injected drugs, but if you’ve used straws to sniff cocaine too.
It can also be transmitted sexually or through tattooing and piercing. The first signs of the disease include fatigue and aching joints. 80% of people with hepatitis C will develop a chronic infection in the liver, and about one-fifth of these will develop serious liver disease.
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