As It Stands: Humboldt officials miss drug disposal opportunity

By Dave Stancliff/For the Times-Standard

Posted: 10/03/2010 01:22:36 AM PDT

Humboldt County and city officials, along with local law enforcement let an important day pass without participation. Sept. 25th was National Prescription Medication Drop-Off Day, a program sponsored by the DEA in conjunction with states and cities nationwide.

I called around that day and checked with the sheriff's office to see if they knew anything about it. No one knew anything. I called the Eureka Police Department and spoke to a very courteous woman who informed me no one was working there that day, and I could try calling local pharmacies to see if they knew anything about the program.

I called a pharmacist at Walgreens. He told me he checked online and there were no prescription drug drop-off places set for Humboldt County that day (or any day). He did offer an alternative; the Crescent City Police Department was participating in some nationwide program, and I could go there to drop off old medications.

Say what? What happened here? Apparently a few people locally knew about this program because I checked out the blog, “Humboldt Online,” and it was mentioned there.

 A short blurb contained a couple of paragraphs about an upcoming prescription drug drop-off program available in Crescent City on Sept. 25th. The headline said, “Fighting prescription drug use” and attribution was given to the Daily Triplicate.

The blurb quoted Sheriff's Cmdr. Tim Athey as saying, “It's an open day where people can bring in and dispose of their outdated prescriptions.” What a good idea, don't you think? I can't understand why we didn't do that here.

What's wrong with this picture? Why didn't someone in this county care enough to get involved in this program? Don't they think we have a problem here? Perhaps local law enforcement already has prescription drug drop-off spots they've forgotten to share with us? I doubt it.

 Think about the pharmacies robbed at gunpoint in recent months by desperate criminals seeking OxyContin. Most local pharmacies have stopped carrying it to protect their employees.

Humboldt County has its share of prescription drug abuse. Ask any of our local law enforcement officials if they think it's a problem. Don't be surprised at the answer. I wonder why they didn't get involved?

Overall, 6.2 million Americans abuse medicine that is not prescribed for them. A 2008 national survey on drug use noted that more Americans currently abuse prescription medications than those who abuse cocaine, hallucinogens, and heroin combined.

Health officials nationally have asked Americans not to flush unwanted medications down the toilet because they'll wind up in our waterways. They also strongly urge people not to throw them out in garbage that ends up in landfills.

There were 10 locations for drop-offs in San Francisco. Sgt. Ardraychak of the SFPD told the press, “Three quarters of prescription medicines that are abused in the United States actually come from family or friends and often times from family medicine cabinets.”

On average, Americans buy about $250 billion worth of medicines per year. When people stop taking their medication, for whatever reason, the remainder sits in the medicine cabinet until its safe date passes, or the wrong person takes it.

The city of New Orleans went to great lengths to make sure everyone got a chance to dispose of unwanted medications. It offered free rides to the disposal stations set up citywide on Sept. 25th. And so it went across the country, concerned cities trying to do something about a huge problem. But not here behind the Redwood Curtain.

About the only thing I think people can do locally is to call their doctor's office and see if they have the means (and desire) to safely dispose of outdated and unwanted prescriptions. I wish I could offer more help, but there must be qualified people in this county with answers ... somewhere.

As It Stands, I'm waiting to hear any explanation. Why didn't Humboldt County get involved?

Prescription Drug abuse: Go ask Alice when she’s 10-feet tall’

What’s the tie-in between Jefferson Airplane’s “White Rabbit” and “As It Stands” Sunday column?

Two words:

Prescription drugs

Jefferson Airplane’s iconic “White Rabbit” was about prescription drugs, still legal LSD, and illegal drug use.

The DEA lists prescription drugs as the 2nd biggest drug problem in the country today. What happens to prescription drugs when people stop taking them and leave them in the medicine cabinet? You probably have a good idea of what could happen.

How can you safely get rid of them? Can’t just flush em down the john without polluting waterways. Throwing them in the garbage adds to toxic landfills. What to do then?

What if I told you Humboldt County had it’s chance to provide a public service by safely disposing of prescription drugs last Saturday…and didn’t? We have our share of prescription drug abuse behind the Redwood Curtain, and could have used this opportunity to take a proactive step towards fighting the problem.

“As It Stands” wants to know “Who dropped the ball?”

 

Oops! Celebrity's cereal box lists sex line instead of charity

From CHICAGO (Reuters)

“The telephone number pasted on boxes of cereal named for Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chad Ochocinco was supposed to be for a charity -- but mistakenly directed callers to a sex line, the player's agent said on Thursday.

"The wrong number was given by the Feed the Children charity," Ochocinco's agent Robert Bailey said. "It's a shame because it's a good cause."

The outspoken Ochocinco said he was confident the mistake -- an 800 area code was substituted for 888 -- would be corrected by PBL Sports, the marketing company behind "Ochocincos" cereal.

A portion of the $5 price of each box goes to the Feed The Children organization, according to PBL's website.

In a tweet, the football player had directed fans to his own website and urged them to order his cereal, adding, "Start your day with a lil suga!!!"

(Reporting by Andrew Stern; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)

After mixing up the address to the Halloween Party, Bob was never seen again…

cartoon source

1925 – Popular Science Monthly looks at the future for 1950

It’s official: White House Opposes Legalizing Marijuana Use

I just thought I’d post this poster showing our supposedly “pot-friendly” president when he was courting votes from organizations such as NORML.

What happened since the election Mr. President?

All that talk about respecting the voters will looks like bullshit in the light of your special advisors comments:

The Obama administration “adamantly opposes legalizing marijuana”and views medical marijuana dubiously as well, a top White House drug policy adviser testified before the Montana Supreme Court Administrator’s annual drug court conference in Helena last night.

AND…what about this?

“Kevin Sabet, special adviser for policy at the White House’s Office of National Drug Control Policy, said marijuana is a dangerous drug that causes documented health and social problems and should not be subject to voter-approval for its use.

OH REALLY?

‘Up In Smoke’: 22 people arrested in marijuana sting, some for illegally delivering pot

“In a sting named after a Cheech and Chong stoner movie, a South Bay narcotics task force busted close to two dozen people on charges that included illegally delivering marijuana.

The single-day "Up in Smoke" sting was conducted Thursday by the Santa Clara County Special Enforcement Team, the Attorney General's Office, Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement, along with several other law enforcement agencies, and resulted in the arrest of 22 adults, the seizure of over 25 pounds of marijuana, 9 firearms, and 223 marijuana plants.”

Image source

Peruvian fossil explains how the penguin changed its feathers

A 36 million-year-old fossil found in Peru suggests that the feathers of ancient giant penguins followed a different color scheme — and may not have been as hardy as they are today.

Instead of sporting the classic tuxedo look of modern penguins, the fossil species known as Inkayacu paracasensis ("Water King of Paracas" in the Quechua language) had reddish brown and gray feathers, paleontologists report in a research paper published online today by the journal Science.

The creature was nearly 5 feet tall, which outdoes the height of today's largest living penguin, the Emperor.

Update for 4 p.m. ET: As you can imagine, a lot of people are talking (and writing) about this story. Over at LiveScience, Stephanie Pappas quotes Gerald Mayr, a paleornithologist at the Senckenberg Museum of Natural History, as saying that the action of hydrodynamic forces on feathers may not totally explain why penguins evolved to have bigger melanosomes

Schwarzenegger signs pot bill SB 1449 into law

Sacramento, Sept 30th:  A bill to downgrade the possession of one ounce or less of marijuana from a misdemeanor to an infraction was signed into law by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The bill, SB 1449 by Sen. Mark Leno, will spare petty pot offenders  the necessity for a
court appearance and criminal arrest record while saving the state millions of dollars in court and prosecution expenses.The bill treats petty possession like a traffic ticket punishable by a  simple $100 fine and no arrest record.

"Gov. Schwarzenegger deserves credit for sparing the state's taxpayers the cost of prosecuting minor pot offenders,"  said California NORML director Dale Gieringer, "Californians increasingly recognize that the war on marijuana is a waste of law enforcement resources."
 The new law, which takes effect on Jan 1, 2011, will have an effect even if Californians vote to legalize marijuana by passing Prop 19.   Prop 19 leaves misdemeanor possession penalties in place for public use and smoking in the presence of kids;  under SB 1449,
these offenses would be simple infractions.
In his signing statement, the Governor said he opposes decriminalization of recreational use of marijuana and opposes Prop 19, but "in this time of drastic budget cuts, prosecutors defense attorneys, law enforcement and the courts cannot afford to expend
limited resources" prosecuting petty pot offenses.
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Misdemeanor possession offenses have mounted  to new highs in recent years, reaching 61,164 in 2009  (see http://www.canorml.org/news/2009arrests.html).
California NORML  originally  called for making petty possession an infraction when the state passed its landmark decriminalization law in 1975, but the legislature made it a minor
misdemeanor punishable by a maximum $100 fine. This marks the first time in 35 years that penalties for non-medical use of marijuana have been reduced in California.
                                             Text of SB 1449:
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/09-10/bill/sen/sb_1401-1450/sb_1449_bill_20100405_amended_sen_v98.html

There’s no discounting the importance of a good stretch…

It’s important to remember to stretch every morning.

Laying on a sofa all day is all well and good, but without a proper stretch who knows what will happen if you later decide to jump from the top of the refrigerator onto a trash can?

Or if you take a power nap and contort yourself into a strange, unrecognizable position.

Without properly stretching first, it could be a disaster.

photo source

And we wonder why the US is lagging behind in education

By Clay Bennett, Chattanooga Times Free Press
From the Cartoonist Group.