Federal law enforcement officials arrested General Salvador Cienfuegos, Mexico&#8217;s former defense minister, late on Thursday night for allegedly using his office and military power to assist a drug cartel that poured massive quantities of illicit narcotics into U.S. cities.
Authorities made the arrest immediately after Cienfuegos, 72, landed at Los Angeles International Airport. It is unclear why he had traveled to the U.S. or felt no risk in stepping onto U.S. soil.
“I always said that it wasn’t just a crisis, but a decadence that we were suffering from,” Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said. “It’s regrettable that a former defense minister is detained, accused of ties to drug trafficking.”
Cienfuegos served as defense minister from 2012 to 2018 in the administration of President Enrique Peña Nieto, who has also been linked to drug trafficking. The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/15/nyregion/el-chapo-trial.html">reported</a> last year that Nieto &#8220;took a $100 million bribe from Joaquín Guzmán Loera, the infamous crime lord known as El Chapo, according to a witness at Mr. Guzman’s trial.&#8221;
Cienfuegos abused his &#8220;public position to help the H-2 Cartel, an extremely violent Mexican drug trafficking organization, traffic thousands of kilograms of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and marijuana into the United States, including New York City,&#8221; prosecutors <a href="https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Cienfuegos.Detention.Memo_.pdf">said</a>. &#8220;In exchange for bribe payments, he permitted the H-2 Cartel—a cartel that routinely engaged in wholesale violence, including torture and murder—to operate with impunity in Mexico.&#8221;
Prosecutors highlighted the following alleged evidence that they collected on Cienfuegos:
<blockquote>Evidence obtained by law enforcement officials, including the interception of thousands of Blackberry Messenger communications, has revealed that, while he was the Secretary of National Defense in Mexico, the defendant, in exchange for bribe payments, assisted the H-2 Cartel in numerous ways, including by: (i) ensuring that military operations were not conducted against the H-2 Cartel; (ii) initiating military operations against its rival drug trafficking organizations; (iii) locating maritime transportation for drug shipments; (iv) acting to expand the territory controlled by the H-2 Cartel to Mazatlán and the rest of Sinaloa; (v) introducing senior leaders of the H-2 Cartel to other corrupt Mexican government officials willing to assist in exchange for bribes; and (vi) warning the H-2 Cartel about the ongoing U.S. law enforcement investigation into the H-2 Cartel and its use of cooperating witnesses and informants—which ultimately resulted in the murder of a member of the H-2 Cartel that the H-2 Cartel senior leadership incorrectly believed was assisting U.S. law enforcement authorities.
Among the many communications captured during the course of this investigation are numerous direct communications between the defendant and a senior leader of the H-2 Cartel, including communications in which the defendant discussed his historical assistance to another drug trafficking organization, as well as communications in which the defendant is identified by name, title and photograph as the Mexican government official assisting the H-2 Cartel. Due in part to the defendant’s corrupt assistance, the H-2 Cartel conducted its criminal activity in Mexico without significant interference from the Mexican military and imported thousands of kilograms of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and marijuana into the United States.
These thousands of intercepted communications amongst the members of the H-2 Cartel are corroborated by numerous drug seizures of hundreds of kilograms of cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine, as well as the seizure of hundreds of thousands of dollars in drug proceeds in the United States. In addition, witnesses have provided a wealth of information to the government about the operations of the H-2 Cartel, its regular employment of violence to further its drug trafficking, its use of bribery to ensure government protection, as well as the assistance of the defendant to the H-2 Cartel and other drug trafficking organizations.</blockquote>
Prosecutors added that Cienfuegos &#8220;prioritized his personal greed over his sworn duties as a public servant, and he assured the continued success and safety of one of Mexico’s most violent drug trafficking organizations.&#8221;
The Daily Wire is one of America’s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

Mexico Independence Day

U.S. Arrests Mexico’s Former Top Defense Official For Using His Office To Assist Drug Cartel, Reports Say

Drugs

Mexico

Federal law enforcement officials arrested General Salvador Cienfuegos, Mexico&#039;s former defense minister, late on Thursday night for allegedly using his

description

noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1

robots

U.S. Arrests Mexico’s Former Top Defense Official For Using His Office To Assist Drug Cartel, Reports Say | The Daily Wire

https://editorial.dailywire.com/news/u-s-arrests-mexicos-former-top-defense-official-for-using-his-office-to-assist-drug-cartel-reports-say/

https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/10/Defense-Secretary-Salvador-Cienfuegos-Zepeda-1200x800.jpg

twitter:card

A county in Ohio has experienced a skyrocketing number of drug overdose deaths amidst the coronavirus pandemic and a government-mandated lockdown.
Franklin County saw a 73% increase in overdose deaths in the first six months of 2020 compared to the same time frame last year. Deaths began spiking in May, roughly two months into the state lockdown imposed to slow the spread of the coronavirus, according to Franklin County Coroner Dr. Anahi Ortiz.
“From May on, probably is when we started seeing increases and increases in those who were dying of overdoses,” Ortiz said, according to <a href="https://abc6onyourside.com/news/local/overdose-deaths-in-franklin-county-up-by-alarming-73-for-first-half-of-2020-coroner-says">ABC 6</a>.
In Franklin County, 437 people died from overdoses in the first six months of the year, primarily from the drug fentanyl. Ortiz said that on the current trajectory, overdose deaths could hit more than 900 by the end of the year.
Ortiz said that rampant joblessness has likely been a significant factor in the surge in overdose deaths. As people lose their paychecks, they cut back on drug use. After people restore some income, whether through unemployment benefits or a new job, they return to drugs but are either abusing substances cut with fentanyl or begin using drugs at the same level before the pandemic.
“Then you have folks who perhaps because they became unemployed, etc., may have not been able to buy their usual, and then when they do get some money, they start using again, and they start at the same doses they were taking previously, and that&#8217;s when they die,” Ortiz said.
Medical experts are increasingly warning of the costs of continuing strict lockdown policies to limit the spread of the coronavirus. In early October, three medical experts <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/thousands-of-health-experts-sign-declaration-calling-for-end-to-lockdown-warn-of-irreparable-damage">published</a> the “<a href="https://gbdeclaration.org/">The Great Barrington Declaration</a>,” a statement calling for an end to lockdown and more targeted policies to protect those populations most vulnerable to the coronavirus while leaving the majority of people free to return to life as close to normal as possible.
“As infectious disease epidemiologists and public health scientists we have grave concerns about the damaging physical and mental health impacts of the prevailing COVID-19 policies, and recommend an approach we call Focused Protection,” the declaration says.
“Current lockdown policies are producing devastating effects on short and long-term public health,” it continues. “The results (to name a few) include lower childhood vaccination rates, worsening cardiovascular disease outcomes, fewer cancer screenings, and deteriorating mental health – leading to greater excess mortality in years to come, with the working class and younger members of society carrying the heaviest burden. Keeping students out of school is a grave injustice.”
The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/who-reverses-course-again-now-condemns-lockdowns-over-economic-consequences">World Health Organization</a> echoed the call days later. The organization’s envoy, Dr. David Nabarro, warned world leaders against using strict lockdown measures as a primary tool to combat the coronavirus.
“We in the World Health Organization do not advocate lockdowns as the primary means of control of this virus,” Nabarro said. “The only time we believe a lockdown is justified is to buy you time to reorganize, regroup, rebalance your resources, protect your health workers who are exhausted, but by and large, we’d rather not do it.”
The Daily Wire is one of America’s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

Pills laced with fentanyl

Overdose Deaths Explode In Ohio County After Lockdown, Coroner Cites Joblessness

Coronavirus

Ohio

A county in Ohio has experienced a skyrocketing number of drug overdose deaths amidst the coronavirus pandemic and a government-mandated lockdown.

Overdose Deaths Explode In Ohio County After Lockdown, Coroner Cites Joblessness | The Daily Wire

https://editorial.dailywire.com/news/overdose-deaths-explode-in-ohio-county-after-lockdown-coroner-cites-joblessness/

https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/10/Fentanyl.jpg

twitter:image

California state Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) announced Thursday his plan to roll out legislation that would allow &#8220;safe injection sites&#8221; in San Francisco and Oakland.
Citing the recent surge of drug overdoses in San Francisco, according to <a href="https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2020/10/08/state-sen-scott-wiener-announces-renewed-push-for-safe-injection-sites/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">local CBS affiliate KPIX</a>, Wiener joined San Francisco&#8217;s Democrat Mayor London Breed and San Francisco Health Director Dr. Grant Colfax during a press conference in Boeddeker Park to announce the proposal.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Drug overdoses are way up. We must take new approaches to addiction. 
Today at noon at Boeddeker Park in the Tenderloin, I’ll be joined by <a href="https://twitter.com/LondonBreed?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@LondonBreed</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/LibbySchaaf?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@LibbySchaaf</a> &amp; advocates to announce our plans for state legislation to legalize safe injection sites for SF, Oakland, etc.
&mdash; Senator Scott Wiener (@Scott_Wiener) <a href="https://twitter.com/Scott_Wiener/status/1314221542021062657?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 8, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;Wiener has long been an advocate for the sites, which allow drug users to safely consume in the presence of medical professionals who are equipped with the medication naloxone to prevent overdoses,&#8221; KPIX reported.
Wiener has been trying to get safe injection sites implemented since 2018, though his two previous attempts were vetoed.
Overdose deaths in San Francisco increased by 70% in 2019, according to Colfax, who said, &#8220;All signs point to this trend continuing in 2020.&#8221; The primary culprit in the rise of overdoses is fentanyl, according to the city&#8217;s Department of Public Health.
&#8220;We are in an emergency in San Francisco,&#8221; Colfax added.
Breed referred to her sister who overdosed, saying, “When you have people who you know and love who struggle with addiction, the thing that you want most for them is you want a better life for them, you want them to be able to get help, you want to make sure that that addiction doesn’t take their life. And that’s happened to me.&#8221;
“We can’t control people and their addiction, but what we can do is be there for them. And this is a way for being there for people. This is a way for providing a space that doesn’t judge them, so that when they walk through the doors, they’re not treated like a drug addict. They’re treated like a human being,” Breed said.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
&quot;Research shows that safe injection sites improve the health of people who use drugs. They increase access to treatment. They decrease public drug use. They prevent infectious diseases, &amp; they link people to care.&quot; Hear more from Dr. Colfax discussing safe injection sites below. <a href="https://t.co/5CVImZmYqC">pic.twitter.com/5CVImZmYqC</a>
&mdash; SFDPH (@SF_DPH) <a href="https://twitter.com/SF_DPH/status/1314367227999600641?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 9, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Wiener recently made headlines for introducing a bill in the California State Senate, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/newsom-signs-bill-that-could-alter-sex-offender-registration-for-gay-sex-with-minors" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">later signed by Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom</a>, that allowed a judge the discretion to prevent someone convicted of gay sex with a minor from registering as a sex offender. He also was behind the 2017 bill that made knowingly exposing a partner to HIV a misdemeanor instead of a felony.
As The Daily Wire reported:
<blockquote>The California State Senate passed a controversial reform to its sex offender registry Monday that would allow a young adult who has gay sex with a minor to escape registering in some cases, based on a judge’s discretion.
SB145 finally passed the 40-member state Senate by <a href="http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billVotesClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB145" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">a vote of 23-10</a>, after first being <a href="https://sd11.senate.ca.gov/news/20190122-senator-wiener-introduces-legislation-end-discrimination-against-lgbt-people-regarding" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">introduced</a> by California state Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) in 2019, according to the <a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/California-bill-eliminating-sex-offender-list-15529263.php" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">San Francisco Chronicle</a>.
Wiener argued that the current law discriminates against LGBT youth because, as the Chronicle explained, “Under current law, a judge can decide whether to place a man who has vaginal intercourse with an underage teenage girl on the sex offender registry based on the facts of the case. But if anal or oral sex, or vaginal penetration with anything other than a penis is involved, the adult must register as a sex offender[.]”</blockquote>
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/newsom-signs-bill-that-could-alter-sex-offender-registration-for-gay-sex-with-minors" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Newsom Signs Bill That Could Alter Sex Offender Registration For Gay Sex With Minors</a>
The Daily Wire is one of America’s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

State Senator Scott Wiener

California State Senator Scott Wiener To Introduce Legislation Allowing ‘Safe Injection Sites’ For Drug Addicts

California

San Francisco

Scott Wiener

California state Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) announced Thursday his plan to roll out legislation that would allow &quot;safe injection sites&quot; in San

California State Senator Scott Wiener To Introduce Legislation Allowing ‘Safe Injection Sites’ For Drug Addicts | The Daily Wire

https://editorial.dailywire.com/news/california-state-senator-scott-wiener-to-introduce-legislation-allowing-safe-injection-sites-for-drug-addicts/

https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/10/GettyImages-1268535602.jpg

Breonna Taylor&#8217;s boyfriend Kenneth Walker &#8220;had numerous conversations about drug trafficking&#8221; in his phone, investigators said, according to a document dump from the Louisville Metro Police Department.
Walker, who fired at plainclothes officers during a raid on Taylor&#8217;s home on March 13 that tragically left her dead and one officer shot, allegedly had more than two dozen customers he dealt to, according to chats spanning from the fall of 2019 to March of this year, the Daily Mail <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8816249/Louisville-police-release-details-Taylor-investigation.html">reported</a> Wednesday.
Released photos also show Taylor and Walker brandishing weapons, one of which is captioned &#8220;partners in crime.&#8221;
Last month, Kentucky’s Republican Attorney General Daniel Cameron agreed to release recordings from the grand jury proceedings in the Taylor case after a former juror complained that “certain questions were left unanswered” and suggested that information presented to the grand jury was different from what Cameron presented to the public, reported <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/kentucky-ag-will-release-information-presented-to-breonna-taylor-grand-jury-after-juror-speaks-out">The Daily Wire</a>.
On Wednesday, the LMPD <a class="class" href="https://louisville-police.org/751/Breonna-Taylor-Investigation" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener">released</a> 4,470 pages related to the investigation, 251 videos, and hundreds of photos.
&#8220;In police interviews, Walker said that he was not involved in serious criminal activity, but did say that he sometimes personally used marijuana,&#8221; the Daily Mail report said. &#8220;However, a search of his phone &#8216;found numerous conversations about drug trafficking,&#8217; investigators said in the newly released documents.&#8221;
Walker was not named on the warrant and has claimed that he believed the officers executing the warrant were intruders or possibly Taylor&#8217;s ex-boyfriend. Because of his alleged confusion, he shot at the officers, who returned gunfire.
&#8220;In several &#8216;chats&#8217; described in the documents, Walker discusses selling &#8216;pills&#8217; to Hooters waitresses,&#8221; the report noted. &#8220;In another conversation, he sent an image of a bag of marijuana, advertising it as &#8216;Cali High Grade Premium Cannabis 1LB,&#8217; according to the documents.&#8221;
Walker apparently &#8220;offered to sell half ounces for $25, or two &#8216;zips&#8217;, slang for ounces, for $260,&#8221; according to other detailed &#8220;chats.&#8221;
Taylor&#8217;s boyfriend also allegedly discussed robbing someone, per documents: &#8220;Walker asked how much &#8216;bread&#8217; the target had, and another person replied that it was at least $25,000,&#8221; the Daily Mail said. &#8220;When someone in the chat asked if it was an easy target or whether they needed to [do] homework, Walker replied that he &#8216;does his homework on every mission,&#8217; according to the documents.&#8221;
Photos of Taylor and Walker posing with guns were also revealed. The Daily Mail reported:
<blockquote>
In one photo recovered from Walker&#8217;s phone, Taylor poses with him as he holds a silver and black Glock 9mm that strongly resembles the gun Walker used to fire on police during the raid. He also shows off a &#8216;pistol style&#8217; Springfield Saint AR-15.
&#8216;Partners in crime&#8217; reads the caption at the bottom of the photo, along with a cartoon of handcuffs. 
In text messages, Walker said that he purchased the Glock from a &#8216;white boy&#8217; and that it wasn&#8217;t registered to him, but that he had a bill of sale. 
In one text message to Walker, Taylor sent an image of herself with the AR-15 pistol.
In another, she asks for a picture of the AR-15 pistol to show to a &#8216;white boy&#8217; she works with who might be interested in purchasing it, according to the new documents.  
</blockquote>
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-officer-in-grand-jury-testimony-breonna-taylors-boyfriend-initially-said-taylor-shot-at-officers">Officer In Grand Jury Testimony: Breonna Taylor’s Boyfriend Initially Said Taylor Shot At Officers</a>
The Daily Wire is one of America’s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe"> member</a>.

Breonna Taylor Protest

Breonna Taylor Boyfriend ‘Had Numerous Conversations About Drug Trafficking,’ Investigators Said

Breonna Taylor

Kentucky

Louisville

Breonna Taylor&#039;s boyfriend Kenneth Walker &quot;had numerous conversations about drug trafficking&quot; in his phone, investigators said, according to a document

Breonna Taylor Boyfriend ‘Had Numerous Conversations About Drug Trafficking,’ Investigators Said | The Daily Wire

https://editorial.dailywire.com/news/breonna-taylor-boyfriend-had-numerous-conversations-about-drug-trafficking-investigators-said/

https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/08/Breonna-Taylor.jpg

The attorney for one of four former Minneapolis police officers charged in the death of George Floyd says charges should be dropped against his client because Floyd died from a drug overdose.
Thomas Lane is facing charges of aiding and abetting second-degree murder and aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter for his role in Floyd’s May 25 arrest that ended in Floyd’s death at a nearby hospital. Earl Gray, Lane’s defense attorney, filed a motion in court on Monday alleging that Floyd contributed to his own death by consuming a lethal amount of fentanyl, according to <a href="https://www.fox9.com/news/minneapolis-officers-attorney-alleges-george-floyd-overdosed-on-fentanyl-says-charges-should-be-dropped">FOX 9</a> in Minnesota.
“All he had to do is sit in the police car, like every other defendant who is initially arrested. While attempting to avoid his arrest, all by himself, Mr. Floyd overdosed on Fentanyl,” Gray wrote. “Given his intoxication level, breathing would have been difficult at best. Mr. Floyd’s intentional failure to obey commands, coupled with his overdosing, contributed to his own death.”
Gray says that bodycam footage from Lane, who was the first officer to confront Floyd, shows Floyd with “a white spot on the left side of his tongue” that resembles “2 milligrams of fentanyl, a lethal dose.”
“Rather than comply with Officer Lane’s reasonable instructions, [Floyd] turns his head away at 20:09:45; at 20:09:48, the white spot is gone,” Gray says.
The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/independent-medical-examiner-contradicts-early-findings-officials-update-floyds-death-as-homicide">Hennepin County medical examiner</a> said that Floyd tested positive for fentanyl intoxication, as well as recent methamphetamine use. The medical examiner ruled Floyd’s death a homicide but notes that “manner of death classification is a statutory function of the medical examiner” and “is not a legal determination of culpability or intent, and should not be used to usurp the judicial process.”
The medical examiner <a href="https://int.nyt.com/data/documenthelper/6992-george-floyd-full-autopsy/4c5bdf52fbbd775ce156/optimized/full.pdf">found</a> cuts and abrasions over Floyd’s body, but no sign of significant or “life-threatening” injury or trauma, except for a cracked rib due to medical workers attempting to resuscitate Floyd at the hospital.
Lane was fired from the Minneapolis Police Department and charged in Floyd’s death along with three other former officers. J. Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao are facing similar charges as Lane, while Derek Chauvin is facing charges of second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter after he pressed his knee to Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes during the arrest.
The officers restrained Floyd on the ground after he pushed himself out of the back of a squad car while complaining about claustrophobia and saying that he could not breathe, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-police-bodycam-footage-shows-moment-by-moment-arrest-of-george-floyd-for-the-first-time">bodycam footage</a> that surfaced in early August shows.
As The Daily Wire reports:
<blockquote>Lane goes over to the other side of the car to pull Floyd into it. Floyd begins yelling and repeatedly claiming he “can’t breathe.” After a struggle between Floyd and several officers, Floyd ends up on the ground beside the vehicle as Officer Derek Chauvin, 44, places his knee on his neck. Chauvin would go on to hold his knee on Floyd’s neck for over eight minutes, as shown in widely-publicized video that led to violent protests nationwide.</blockquote>
The Daily Wire is one of America’s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

George Floyd

Attorney For Ex-Minneapolis Police Officer: George Floyd ‘Overdosed On Fentanyl’

Minneapolis

The attorney for one of four former Minneapolis police officers charged in the death of George Floyd says charges should be dropped against his client

Attorney For Ex-Minneapolis Police Officer: George Floyd ‘Overdosed On Fentanyl’ | The Daily Wire

https://www.dailywire.com/news/attorney-for-ex-minneapolis-police-officer-george-floyd-overdosed-on-fentanyl/

https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/07/George-Floyd-Mural.jpg

Suspected drug overdoses have swelled in the months since the mid-March outbreak of the coronavirus in the United States, according to a report.
State governments have enacted heavy-handed restrictions to slow the spread of the virus, but in many cases have contributed to increased social isolation and blocked people from services and escapes that have buoyed mental and emotional health.
The impact of the lockdowns and anxiety of the pandemic seems to be showing up in the number of overdoses, both fatal and nonfatal, across the country. Since March, each month has measured a significant increase in suspected overdoses over a year ago, and each month during which the crisis continues, the relative increase in overdoses grows larger, according to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/07/01/coronavirus-drug-overdose/">The Washington Post</a>.
“Suspected overdoses nationally — not all of them fatal — jumped <a href="http://www.odmap.org/Content/docs/news/2020/ODMAP-Report-May-2020.pdf">18 percent</a> in March compared with last year, 29 percent in April and 42 percent in May, according to the Overdose Detection Mapping Application Program, a federal initiative that collects data from ambulance teams, hospitals and police. In some jurisdictions, such as Milwaukee County, dispatch calls for overdoses have increased <a href="https://urbanmilwaukee.com/2020/05/07/ems-calls-show-54-spike-in-drug-overdoses-80-increase-in-suicide-attempts/">more than 50 percent</a>,” the Post reports.
The Post report cites increased social isolation, unemployment, and, curiously, disruption in normal supply lines of illegal drugs, which has allegedly forced many to seek new dealers or try unfamiliar substances.
Experts have <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/researchers-estimate-75000-deaths-of-despair-from-pandemic-employment-central-to-combating-crisis">predicted</a> that the lockdowns, which shut down social institutions such as churches and forced tens of millions of Americans into unemployment, could result in thousands of additional deaths on top of those from COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. In early May, just weeks into the pandemic in the U.S., the health group Well Being Trust estimated that 75,000 people would die from so-called “deaths of despair” from alcohol, drug use, suicide, and other factors.
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/american-academy-of-pediatrics-get-students-back-to-school-in-the-fall">released</a> a statement on Monday calling for schools to reopen in the fall unless extreme scenarios prevent them from doing so. The group of childcare experts said that keeping children out of schools threatened their physical and mental well-being much more than the virus itself.
“The AAP strongly advocates that all policy considerations for the coming school year should start with a goal of having students physically present in school. The importance of inperson learning is well-documented, and there is already evidence of the negative impacts on children because of school closures in the spring of 2020,” the AAP said.
“Lengthy time away from school and associated interruption of supportive services often results in social isolation, making it difficult for schools to identify and address important learning deficits as well as child and adolescent physical or sexual abuse, substance use, depression, and suicidal ideation. This, in turn, places children and adolescents at considerable risk of morbidity and, in some cases, mortality,” the AAP added.
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

Seattle Medic

Report Claims Suspected Overdoses Are Skyrocketing As Lockdowns Continue

COVID-19

lockdown

Suspected drug overdoses have swelled in the months since the mid-March outbreak of the coronavirus in the United States, according to a report. State

Report Claims Suspected Overdoses Are Skyrocketing As Lockdowns Continue | The Daily Wire

https://www.dailywire.com/news/report-claims-suspected-overdoses-are-skyrocketing-as-lockdowns-continue/

https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/07/Medic.jpg

Oregon residents may be able to vote this November on whether to legalize psilocybin, the active compound in psychedelic mushrooms.
The Oregonian <a href="https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2020/06/legal-regulated-psychedelic-mushrooms-are-one-step-closer-to-being-on-the-ballot-in-oregon-in-november.html">reported</a> that a ballot initiative known as the Oregon Psilocybin Therapy Initiative, or Initiative Petition #34, has received enough signatures to appear on the November ballot, provided those signatures are valid. Sheri and Tom Eckert, two of the top petitioners behind the initiative, said during a Zoom press conference Monday that the initiative had obtained 164,782 signatures, the Oregonian reported.
More from the Oregonian:
<blockquote>Oregon would be the first state to legalize the substance, which is currently a Schedule I drug. Cities like <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/magic-mushrooms-psilocybin-shrooms-denver-legal-how-take-1445041">Oakland and Denver have already decriminalized psilocybin</a>.
“Pioneering research at institutions like Johns Hopkins, NYU, and UCLA has shown the significant promise of psilocybin therapy,” said a press release put out by the campaign Monday, “especially for people whose depression or anxiety hasn’t responded to other available treatments.”
Its [sic] a cause <a href="https://www.oregonlive.com/trending/2017/12/this_couple_wants_to_make_it_l.html">the Eckerts have championed for years</a> that now is closer than ever to appearing on the Oregon ballot in November.</blockquote>
Legalizing psilocybin, the outlet reported, won’t make it widely available like cannabis. Instead, the Oregonian reported, the initiative will “empower the Oregon Health Authority to set up all licensing, training, certification, and ongoing education requirements for psilocybin service centers and facilitators during a mandated two-year development process,” a press release for Initiative #34 said.
“Only license holders will be able to “provide psilocybin therapy, cultivate psilocybin, or own a psilocybin service center,” under the measure, and the measure would not allow people to take or grow psychedelic mushrooms in their homes, or leave a treatment facility while still under the influence of psilocybin,” the outlet reported. “The use of the substance will be highly structured, with therapy recipients going through a pre-screening, a supervised therapy session and a post-use evaluation.”
In their press release, Sheri Eckert, a therapist, explained that “Oregon has some of the highest rates of depression, anxiety, and addiction in the country,” and that “the options we have to help those people are just not enough.”
The New York Post <a href="https://nypost.com/2020/06/30/oregon-voters-push-to-legalize-psychedelic-mushrooms/">reported</a> that the Eckerts “hope to market a whole range of ‘Psilocybin Services’ to patients in the future” and received a $1 million donation from Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps, an organic soap company based in San Diego, California.
Dr. Rachel Knox was present during the Eckerts’ press conference and said she supported Initiative #34 because she “believes that therapies should be backed by research and evidence-based, and psilocybin is a compound that has a demonstrated safety record.”
“We need better mental health treatment options now more than ever,” Knox added, “and this initiative has the right supervision and safeguards in place.”
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers with the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe"> member</a>.

Mushrooms

Oregon Getting Closer To Vote On Legalizing Psychedelic Shrooms – For Therapeutic Use, Of Course

Oregon

Oregon residents may be able to vote this November on whether to legalize psilocybin, the active compound in psychedelic mushrooms. The Oregonian reported

Oregon Getting Closer To Vote On Legalizing Psychedelic Shrooms - For Therapeutic Use, Of Course | The Daily Wire

https://www.dailywire.com/news/oregon-getting-closer-to-vote-on-legalizing-psychedelic-shrooms-for-therapeutic-use-of-course/

https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/06/GettyImages-1223848882.jpg

Mexico City&#8217;s police chief is lucky to be alive after a dramatic assassination attempt that left him wounded, two of his bodyguards dead, and his police vehicle riddled with bullets.
<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mexico-violence/mexico-city-police-chief-shot-in-assassination-attempt-blames-drug-cartel-idUSKBN23X1T8">Reuters reports</a> that the chief survived at least three bullet wounds and blamed the Jalisco New Generation Cartel  (CJNG) drug cartel for the &#8220;cowardly attack”  in one of Mexico City&#8217;s wealthiest neighborhoods in a Tweet from his hospital bed.
&#8220;We were attacked in a cowardly way by the CJNG,” the police chief said. &#8220;Our nation has to continue standing up to cowardly organized crime.&#8221;
Photos of the police chief&#8217;s vehicle, nearly unrecognizable from damage, appeared on social media. Local police say the attack killed at least one person in addition to the chief&#8217;s bodyguards &#8212; a 26-year-old woman who happened to be caught in the barrage of .50-caliber bullets.
&#8220;The shooting, which occurred in the prestigious neighborhood of Lomas de Chapultepec, was captured on security cameras at the scene,&#8221; German <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/mexico-jalisco-cartel-blamed-for-attack-on-police-chief/a-53966168">news outlet DW</a> reported Saturday. &#8220;A dozen of the 28 gunmen reportedly involved in the attack were held for questioning by police. Later on Friday, police from the capital arrested an alleged head of the CJNG hitmen on suspicion of being the mastermind of the meticulously planned operation.&#8217;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Gunmen armed with .50 caliber rifles and grenades attacked Mexico City’s police chief this morning. He survived. <a href="https://t.co/X8oMioy75q">https://t.co/X8oMioy75q</a>
&mdash; Keegan Hamilton (@keegan_hamilton) <a href="https://twitter.com/keegan_hamilton/status/1276522897993895936?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 26, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Cartel violence was already on the rise in Mexico earlier this year, but powerful drug gangs have moved into a vacuum created by Mexican officials who are now sheltering in place as the country endures one of the globe&#8217;s worst coronavirus outbreaks. Dozens have been targeted and killed, including at least one other police official and a federal judge.
Cartels are also jockeying for positions within Mexico&#8217;s drug hierarchy, trying to fill a position vacated after the arrest of &#8220;El Chapo,&#8221; who exerted extensive control over Mexico&#8217;s drug trade.
Friday&#8217;s attack, experts say, is meant to send a message to higher-level Mexican officials, including law enforcement officials, that &#8220;nobody is off-limits&#8221; as the drug cartels struggle to stake out territory.
&#8220;The assassination attempt served as a warning that &#8216;nobody is off-limits&#8217; and was reminiscent of previous attacks on officials during Mexico’s drug war, said Gladys McCormick, a security analyst at Syracuse University in New York,&#8221; per Reuters, who spoke to McCormick.
The <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/mexico-city-security-chief-wounded-in-assassination-attempt-11593192065">Wall Street Journal adds</a> that, until now, Mexico City has also been largely immune from the violence erupting across the rest of the country.
&#8220;Analysts said the ambush suggests the Jalisco cartel might be making a play for lucrative extortion rackets, as well as the retail drug trade in this metropolis of 20 million, which would likely lead to more violence in a city home to large companies and hundreds of thousands of foreigners,&#8221; the WSJ reported.
Mexican officials, who spoke to Reuters, indicated that the police chief is now out of surgery and &#8220;doing well.&#8221;

Cartel attack Mexico city

Mexico City Police Chief Targeted For Assassination As Drug Cartel Violence Spikes

Mexico City&#039;s police chief is lucky to be alive after a dramatic assassination attempt that left him wounded, two of his bodyguards dead, and his police

Mexico City Police Chief Targeted For Assassination As Drug Cartel Violence Spikes | The Daily Wire

https://www.dailywire.com/news/mexico-city-police-chief-targeted-for-assassination-as-drug-cartel-violence-spikes/

https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/06/GettyImages-1252778315-scaled.jpg

It sounds like a plot we’ve heard before: An unassuming high school teacher built a massive drug empire while eluding the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). Except this isn’t the plot to “Breaking Bad.” It’s a real-life crime story out of Buffalo, New York.
Michael Masecchia was an English teacher at Grover Cleveland High School, a father of two, and a football, softball, and soccer coach. He worked in the public school system for more than 30 years. In August 2019, he was arrested – to the surprise of the community.
The Daily Beast <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-michael-masecchia-a-buffalo-high-school-teacher-with-mob-ties-allegedly-bribed-a-dea-agent">reported</a> that Masecchia was arrested “on federal drug charges—after authorities raided his two-story Williamsville home to find a large cache of guns, several homemade explosives, and drugs.” Masecchia, the Beast reported, “was accused of growing and selling marijuana for more than 20 years.”
U.S. Attorney James Kennedy, Jr. announced the charges during an August 29, 2019 press conference, saying, “When one is involved in drug trafficking and has a cache of weapons at their ready access including explosive devices—certainly if I’m a parent, I don’t want my kid to be taught by that person.” He then added that the charges against Masecchia were “part of a much larger and ongoing organized crime and public corruption investigation, so stay tuned.”
Flash forward to last week, when the Buffalo community Masecchia called home finally learned what Kennedy meant. Masecchia, the Beast reported, was allegedly working with the mafia and bribed a DEA agent to look the other way while he built his drug empire.
“In a twist worthy of The Sopranos, prosecutors allege former DEA Agent Joseph Bongiovanni blocked several investigations into Masecchia, provided him with information on drug investigations and cooperating sources—and even at times using and selling cocaine—after receiving at least $250,000 in bribes,” the Beast reported.
A <a href="https://redirect.viglink.com/?format=go&amp;jsonp=vglnk_159336318274213&amp;key=b106209c81edb797b7a7b374fa254731&amp;libId=kbz9fyzy0101k4gp000DA22787sht&amp;loc=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thedailybeast.com%2Fhow-michael-masecchia-a-buffalo-high-school-teacher-with-mob-ties-allegedly-bribed-a-dea-agent&amp;v=1&amp;out=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.documentcloud.org%2Fdocuments%2F6953827%2FUSA-v-Bongiovanni-NEW-Indictment.pdf&amp;ref=https%3A%2F%2Ffeedly.com%2Fi%2Fentry%2FZOqkVHSLZOC9Lu12%2FFVYoJMvRzDe7zCYvJ91pXfSyMY%3D_172fab4a2a8%3A700cf6%3A893158ab&amp;title=How%20Michael%20Masecchia%2C%20a%20Buffalo%20High%20School%20Teacher%20With%20Mob%20Ties%2C%20Allegedly%20Bribed%20a%20DEA%20Agent&amp;txt=37-page%20indictment">37-page indictment</a> filed earlier this month explained that “Masecchia had been a target or subject of several DEA cases during&#8230; Bongiovanni’s venture as a DEA special agent,” but that the teacher was “never arrested or charged in any DEA cases or investigations.”
Bongiovanni was charged last November with accepting bribes to ignore organized crime activity. As the Beast reported, the filing earlier this month was the first he was linked to Masecchia.
The men were allegedly connected to La Cosa Nostra, a Sicilian Mafia that has operated in the U.S. for the past century.
Masecchia’s attorney, Terrence M. Connors, told the Beast that his client “is not now nor has he ever been, as the government alleges, a member of ‘Italian Organized Crime’ if, in fact, that designation even exists.”
Bongiovanni’s attorney <a href="https://redirect.viglink.com/?format=go&amp;jsonp=vglnk_159336344152716&amp;key=b106209c81edb797b7a7b374fa254731&amp;libId=kbz9fyzy0101k4gp000DA22787sht&amp;loc=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thedailybeast.com%2Fhow-michael-masecchia-a-buffalo-high-school-teacher-with-mob-ties-allegedly-bribed-a-dea-agent&amp;v=1&amp;out=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wkbw.com%2Fnews%2Flocal-news%2Findictment-links-alleged-drug-dealer-dea-agent-accused-of-taking-bribes&amp;ref=https%3A%2F%2Ffeedly.com%2Fi%2Fentry%2FZOqkVHSLZOC9Lu12%2FFVYoJMvRzDe7zCYvJ91pXfSyMY%3D_172fab4a2a8%3A700cf6%3A893158ab&amp;title=How%20Michael%20Masecchia%2C%20a%20Buffalo%20High%20School%20Teacher%20With%20Mob%20Ties%2C%20Allegedly%20Bribed%20a%20DEA%20Agent&amp;txt=told%20WHBW">told</a> WHBW that the latest indictment “doesn’t change much as far as we’re concerned,” and that his client “still professes his innocence and we look forward to defending him at trial.”
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

Marijuana cultivation

High School Teacher Worked With Mafia, Bribed DEA For Decades In Drug Trafficking Scheme

Crime

Mafia

Marijuana

New York

It sounds like a plot we’ve heard before: An unassuming high school teacher built a massive drug empire while eluding the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA).

High School Teacher Worked With Mafia, Bribed DEA For Decades In Drug Trafficking Scheme | The Daily Wire

https://www.dailywire.com/news/high-school-teacher-worked-with-mafia-bribed-dea-for-decades-in-drug-trafficking-scheme/

https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/06/GettyImages-527107100.jpg

The drug-dealing and feces inundating the streets of one neighborhood in San Francisco have become so ubiquitous that the University of California Hastings College of the Law, joined by local business owners and residents, is suing the city to clean the mess up.
The <a href="https://www.uchastings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/UC-Hastings-et-al.-v.-CCSF-Complaint-FINAL-FILED-05.04.21.pdf">lawsuit</a> states:
<blockquote>Even before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the de facto policy of the City and County of San Francisco to use the Tenderloin community as a containment zone had resulted in a dramatic decline in the livability and safety of the neighborhood. The deplorable conditions tolerated by the City in the Tenderloin are not permitted in other neighborhoods in San Francisco. This is a matter of fundamental fairness; what is a city-wide problem should not be allowed to weigh disproportionately on a low-income working- class neighborhood. San Francisco should be prohibited from abandoning a single neighborhood, in an apparent effort to spare other neighborhoods the burdens that confront the city at-large.
Open-air drug sales and other criminal activity, plus crowds of drug users and sidewalk-blocking tents, pervade and threaten the health and lives of all of the Tenderloin’s residents. What has long been suffered in the Tenderloin has become insufferable.</blockquote>
UC Hastings Chancellor David Faigman <a href="https://www.cnn.com/videos/tv/2020/05/09/sf-sued-over-nightmare-neighborhood-conditions.cnn">told CNN</a>, “We are suing because our neighborhood has become a pandemic containment zone. Tents are blocking streets, tents are blocking doorways, there are needles in the streets, there’s open-air drug dealing … We need the tents to be removed and we need the drug dealers to be stopped. Leaving them on the streets is no solution.”
“The number of tents and makeshift homeless shelters in the 50-block section that more than 20,000 permanent residents call home has more than doubled from 158 in early March to 391 as of May 1, according to a survey cited in the lawsuit,” <a href="https://nypost.com/2020/05/11/san-francisco-sued-amid-285-percent-jump-in-homeless-camps/?utm_source=maropost&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=nypevening&amp;utm_content=20200511&amp;tpcc=evening_update&amp;mpweb=755-8860539-719690448&amp;fbclid=IwAR3WcFl1i7nBTcIijE">The New York Post</a> reported.
Last week, San Francisco mayor London N. Breed <a href="https://sf.gov/news/san-francisco-releases-tenderloin-neighborhood-safety-assessment-and-plan-covid-19">released the Tenderloin Neighborhood Safety Assessment and Plan</a> for COVID-19, which stated:
<blockquote>The Plan has eight main goals:
<ol>
<li>Address encampments by offering safe sleeping alternatives to unsheltered individuals.</li>
<li>Facilitate social distancing compliance by closing streets and parking.</li>
<li>Ensure that housed residents in the Tenderloin have safe passage and access to their homes and businesses.</li>
<li>Improve access to hygiene station, restrooms and garbage disposal for unhoused individuals.</li>
<li>Address food and water insecurity for housed and unhoused residents alike.</li>
<li>Increase police presence in the neighborhood to focus on public safety concerns.</li>
<li>Increase health services in the neighborhood.</li>
<li>Increased education and outreach to residents and businesses through a ‘care ambassador’ program.</li>
</ol>
</blockquote>
Faigman said the plan was “entirely inadequate,” adding, “It essentially institutionalizes the status quo. It simply leaves everybody in place. It is a Band-Aid when a bandage is needed and is simply inadequate.”
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.  
&nbsp;

Hastings Law School

San Francisco Sued By UC Law School Over Rampant Drug-Dealing, Feces-Filled Streets

homeless

The drug-dealing and feces inundating the streets of one neighborhood in San Francisco have become so ubiquitous that the University of California

San Francisco Sued By UC Law School Over Rampant Drug-Dealing, Feces-Filled Streets | The Daily Wire

https://www.dailywire.com/news/san-francisco-sued-by-uc-law-school-over-rampant-drug-dealing-feces-filled-streets/

https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/05/GettyImages-1024835918.jpg

Photos and audio have been released by Miami Beach authorities relating to a March 13 incident involving former Tallahassee Mayor and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum.
WPLG was one of the outlets that received <a href="https://www.local10.com/news/local/2020/04/22/police-release-photos-of-hotel-room-where-andrew-gillum-found-in-apparent-incoherent-state/">the evidence</a>, which included photos of prescription pill bottles around the room, stained pillows and bed sheets, and a blood pressure monitor on the floor. Some of the pill bottles were open with pills lying nearby. Police also found small, clear bags containing a substance believed to be crystal meth.
A police report obtained by WPLG documented the mid-March incident. Around 1 a.m. on March 13, Miami Beach Fire Rescue was called to the Mondrian South Beach Hotel after receiving a report that someone may have overdosed on drugs. Police found Gillum and two other men inside the hotel room, one of whom appears to have been nude when authorities arrived. One of the men, Aldo Mejias, 56, told police he gave the other man, Travis Dyson, 30, a credit card to rent the room for the night. The police report said Dyson rented the room at 4 p.m. the day before. Mejias told them that he arrived at the room later that night and found Dyson with Gillum inside, both under the influence of something. The police report said Dyson opened the door for Mejias but then walked over to the bed, collapsed, and began to have trouble breathing. He also vomited on the bed before collapsing again. Mejias began helping Dyson before he called 911.
Gillum, according to the police report, was too inebriated to speak to officers at first. Authorities took Dyson to Mount Sinai Medical Center and returned to the hotel room to speak with Gillum, who by that time had sobered up some. Gillum was able to leave the hotel room and return “to his residence without incident.”
When the incident was first reported, Gillum said he had been in town for a wedding celebration.
“I was in Miami last night for a wedding celebration when first responders were called to assist one of my friends,” Gillum said <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/andrew-gillum-responds-to-report-that-he-was-involved-in-alleged-crystal-meth-incident">a statement</a> at the time. &#8220;While I had too much to drink, I want to be clear that I have never used methamphetamines. I apologize to the people of Florida for the distraction this has caused our movement.”
Politico <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/04/22/andrew-gillum-hotel-room-photos-911-audio-201624">reported</a>, however, that Gillum’s friends said he was supposed to officiate that wedding celebration but he never showed.
Within days of the incident, Gillum announced he was leaving politics and entering rehab, The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/andrew-gillum-leaving-politics-entering-rehab-after-hotel-incident">reported</a>.
“This has been a wake-up call for me,” said Gillum in a written statement at the time, according to <a href="https://www.politico.com/states/florida/story/2020/03/15/gillum-withdraws-from-politics-after-link-to-suspected-drug-overdose-1267145">Politico</a>. “Since my race for governor ended, I fell into a depression that has led to alcohol abuse. I witnessed my father suffer from alcoholism and I know the damaging effects it can have when untreated. I also know that alcoholism is often a symptom of deeper struggles.”
“I will be stepping down from all public facing roles for the foreseeable future,” he added, according to <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/ex-florida-gov-candidate-andrew-gillum-enter-rehab-alcohol-abuse-n1160161">NBC News</a>. “I want to apologize to my family, friends and the people of Florida who have supported me and put their faith in me over the years.”
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">subscriber</a>.

Andrew Gillum

Police Release Photos, Audio From Andrew Gillum Hotel Incident

Photos and audio have been released by Miami Beach authorities relating to a March 13 incident involving former Tallahassee Mayor and Democratic

Police Release Photos, Audio From Andrew Gillum Hotel Incident | The Daily Wire

https://www.dailywire.com/news/police-release-photos-audio-from-andrew-gillum-hotel-incident/

https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/04/GettyImages-1147362360.jpg

President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that the administration was launching an all out assault on Mexican drug cartels using the U.S. military.
&#8220;As governments and nations focus on the Coronavirus, there is a growing threat that cartels, criminals, terrorists, and other malign actors will try to exploit the situation for their own gain and we must not let that happen,&#8221; Trump said. &#8220;We will never let that happen. Today the United States is launching enhanced counter narcotics operations in the western hemisphere to protect the American people from the deadly scourge of illegal narcotics.&#8221;
&#8220;We must not let the drug cartels exploit the pandemic to threaten American lives,&#8221; Trump continued. &#8220;In cooperation with the 22 partner nations, the U.S. Southern Command will increase surveillance, disruption, and seizures of drug shipments, and provide additional support for eradication efforts that are going on right now at a record pace.&#8221;
&#8220;We are deploying additional Navy destroyers, combat ships, aircraft and helicopters, Coast Guard cutters and Air Force surveillance aircraft, doubling the capabilities in the region,&#8221; Trump continued. &#8220;Very importantly, our forces are fully equipped with personnel protective equipment, and we have taken additional safety measures to ensure that our troops remain healthy.&#8221;
Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said, &#8220;Today at the president’s direction, the Department of Defense in close cooperation with our interagency partners began enhanced narcotics separations in eastern Pacific oceans and the Caribbean sea.&#8221;
&#8220;To conduct to the enhanced operations, the president has directed deployment of ships, aircraft and security forces to the United States Southern Command area of responsibility,&#8221; Esper continued. &#8220;Included in this force package are Navy destroyers and littoral combat ships, Coast Guard cutters, P8 control aircraft, and elements of an Army security force assistance brigade. These additional forces will nearly double our capacity to conduct counter narcotics operations in the region.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Secretary of Defense Mark Esper: enhanced operations will keep pressure on the drug cartels during coronavirus pandemic <a href="https://t.co/llnEaB96rH">pic.twitter.com/llnEaB96rH</a>
&mdash; Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) <a href="https://twitter.com/SteveGuest/status/1245474159846711298?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 1, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The DEA reported in its most recent threat assessment guide that Mexican drug cartels remained by far the greatest criminal threat to the U.S.
&#8220;Mexican TCOs remain the greatest criminal drug threat to the United States; no other groups are currently positioned to challenge them,&#8221; the DEA <a href="https://www.dea.gov/sites/default/files/2020-01/2019-NDTA-final-01-14-2020_Low_Web-DIR-007-20_2019.pdf">stated</a>. &#8220;The Sinaloa Cartel maintains the most expansive footprint in the United States, while the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (Cartel Jalisco Nueva 
Generación or CJNG) has become the second-most dominant domestic presence over the past few 
years.&#8221;
The DEA added, &#8220;Although drug-related murders in Mexico continue to reach epidemic proportions, U.S.-based Mexican TCO members still generally refrain from domestic inter-cartel conflicts, resulting in minimal spillover violence in the United States.&#8221;
The DEA noted that Colombian TCOs’ have a heavy but indirect influence on U.S. drug markets because they supply cocaine to the Mexican cartels, who then move it into the U.S.
Mexican cartels are responsible for the overwhelming majority of illicit drugs that are present in the U.S., including cocaine, meth, fentanyl, heroin, and marijuana.
The report added, &#8220;DEA reporting continues to indicate the Sinaloa and CJNG Cartels are likely the primary trafficking groups responsible for smuggling fentanyl into the United States from Mexico.&#8221;
This report has been updated to include additional information.

ISRAEL-DIPLOMACY-NAVY-EMERGENCY

Trump Launches Massive All Out Military Offensive On Drug Cartels

Donald Trump

Drug Cartels

Military

President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that the administration was launching an all out assault on Mexican drug cartels using the U.S. military.

Trump Launches Massive All Out Military Offensive On Drug Cartels | The Daily Wire

https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-trump-launches-massive-all-out-military-war-on-drug-cartels/

https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/04/Destroyer-scaled.jpg

After news broke that a police report named him in an alleged crystal meth-involved drug overdose call, former Florida Democratic gubernatorial candidate and current <a href="https://www.tampabay.com/florida-politics/buzz/2019/01/29/andrew-gillum-joins-cnn-as-a-political-commentator/">CNN contributor</a> Andrew Gillum responded Friday morning to the allegations.
&#8220;I was in Miami last night for a wedding celebration when first responders were called to assist one of my friends,&#8221; the former Tallahassee mayor said, as <a href="https://twitter.com/NewsbySmiley/status/1238494979397468161">reported</a> by the Miami Herald&#8217;s David Smiley. &#8220;While I had too much to drink, I want to be clear that I have never used methamphetamines.&#8221;
The police report (below), first obtained and reported on by the <a href="https://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/andrew-gillum-in-alleged-meth-incident-in-miami-beach-police-say-11594094">Miami New Times</a>, details an emergency call to a hotel room in Miami Beach that involved three men, two of whom first responders suspected of suffering extreme effects from drug use.
Gillum, the former mayor of Tallahassee who lost to Republican Ron DeSantis in the hotly contested 2018 gubernatorial race, was one of the two men the police report describes as appearing to be &#8220;under the influence of an unknown substance.&#8221;
&#8220;Inside of the hotel room, officers observed in plain sight three small clear plastic baggies containing suspected meth on both the bed and floor of the hotel room,&#8221; the report states. &#8220;The three small baggies of suspected narcotics were impounded at the Miami Beach police station property and evidence unit for destruction.&#8221;
The Miami New Times reports:
<blockquote>Per the documents, Miami Beach police responded to a cardiac-arrest distress call just before 1 a.m. at the luxe Mondrian South Beach hotel. When two MBPD officers arrived, they noted that Miami Beach Fire-Rescue was already on scene treating a man named Travis Dyson for a possible drug overdose, but he was in stable condition.
The officers stated that one of the men involved in the incident, Aldo Mejias, had lent Dyson his credit card information to rent a hotel room yesterday. The two men were supposed to meet later that day. Mejias told the officers that he arrived at the hotel room around 11 p.m. yesterday. Mejias said Dyson opened the door and then immediately collapsed on a bed and started vomiting. Mejias said he began giving Dyson CPR and called 911.
In the meantime, Mejias said Gillum was inside the hotel room &#8220;under the influence of an unknown substance.&#8221;</blockquote>
The police report states that upon arriving in the room, Meijas says he &#8220;observed Mr. Gillum inside the bathroom vomiting.&#8221; After the responding officers spoke with Mejias, the report states, they &#8220;attempted to speak to Mr. Gillum,&#8221; but &#8220;Mr. Gillum was unable to communicate with officers due to his inebriated state.&#8221;
Miami Beach Fire-Rescue responded a second time to the hotel later that night for a welfare check on Gillum and said that he was &#8220;in stable condition and his vitals were normal.&#8221;
&#8220;Gillum left the hotel room and returned to his residence without incident,&#8221; the report states.
Police say the incident is not being treated as a criminal matter, the New Times reports.
Full text of the <a href="https://images.miaminewtimes.com/media/pdf/oi_2020-21902_redcated_copy_2.pdf">incident report</a> narrative section below (formatting adjusted):
<blockquote>ON 03/13/2020, OFFICERS GOMEZ (2033) AND MALDONADO (2030) RESPONDED IN EMERGENCY MODE TO 1100 WEST AVENUE ROOM #1107 IN REFERENCE TO A CARDIAC ARREST.
UPON ARRIVAL, MIAMI BEACH FIRE RESCUE (#11) WAS ON SCENE PROVIDING TREATMENT TO TRAVIS DYSON (PATIENT). MIAMI BEACH FIRE RESCUE ADVISED OFFICERS THAT MR. DYSON WAS BEING TREATED FOR A POSSIBLE DRUG OVERDOSE. HE WAS IN STABLE CONDITION BUT AS A PRECAUTION WAS GOING TO BE TRANSPORTED TO MOUNT SINAI FOR FURTHER MEDICAL TREATMENT (MBFR CASE #2020-4950).
OFFICERS THEN MADE CONTACT WITH TWO OTHER MALES WHO WERE INSIDE OF THE HOTEL ROOM: ALDO MEJIAS (COMPLAINANT) AND ANDREW GILLUM (INVOLVED OTHER). MR. MEJIAS STATED THE FOLLOWING TO OFFICERS:
MR. MEJIAS PROVIDED HIS CREDIT CARD INFORMATION TO TRAVIS DYSON TO RENT A HOTEL ROOM FOR THE NIGHT; MR. MEJIAS WAS TO MEET MR. DYSON LATER IN DAY. TRAVIS DYSON RENTED THE ROOM AT APPROXIMATELY 1600 HOURS ON 03/12/2020. MR. MEJIAS ARRIVED AT THE HOTEL AT APPROXIMATELY 2307 HOURS, WHERE HE DISCOVERED TRAVIS DYSON AND ANDREW GILLUM INSIDE THE ROOM UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF AN UNKNOWN SUBSTANCE. PER MR. MEJIAS, MR. DYSON OPENED THE HOTEL ROOM DOOR AND IMMEDIATELY WALKED OVER TO THE BED AND COLLAPSED IN A PRONE POSITION. MR. MEJIAS OBSERVED MR. GILLUM INSIDE OF THE BATHROOM VOMITING. MR. MEJIAS STATED THAT HE OBSERVED MR. DYSON HAVING DIFFICULTY BREATHING, PROMPTING HIM TO WAKE HIM UP. MR. DYSON THEN BEGAN VOMITING ON THE BED AND IMMEDIATELY COLLAPSED AGAIN. MR. MEJIAS BEGAN CONDUCTING CHEST COMPRESSIONS ON MR. DYSON AND PROCEEDED TO CONTACT POLICE AND FIRE RESCUE.
OFFICERS THEN ATTEMPTED TO SPEAK TO MR. GILLUM. MR. GILLUM WAS UNABLE TO COMMUNICATE WITH OFFICERS DUE TO HIS INEBRIATED STATE.
MBFR (R1) RESPONDED A SECOND TIME TO THE HOTEL REFERENCE A WELFARE CHECK ON MR. GILLUM. FIRE RESCUE STATED THAT HE WAS IN STABLE CONDITION AND HIS VITALS WERE NORMAL (MBFR INCIDENT #2020-4952).
OFFICER PASCUAL (2049) RESPONDED TO MT. SINAI TO CHECK ON THE WELFARE OF MR. DYSON. THE REGISTERED NURSE AT MOUNT SINAI (JUDITH) STATED THAT MR. DYSON WAS CONSCIOUS AND IN STABLE CONDITION.
INSIDE OF THE HOTEL ROOM, OFFICERS OBSERVED IN PLAIN SIGHT THREE SMALL CLEAR PLASTIC BAGGIES CONTAINING SUSPECTED CRYSTAL METH ON BOTH THE BED AND FLOOR OF THE HOTEL ROOM.
THE THREE SMALL BAGGIES OF SUSPECTED NARCOTICS WERE IMPOUNDED AT THE MIAMI BEACH POLICE STATION PROPERTY AND EVIDENCE UNIT FOR DESTRUCTION.
GILLUM LEFT THE HOTEL ROOM AND RETURNED TO HIS RESIDENCE WITHOUT INCIDENT .</blockquote>

Andrew Gillum Responds To Report He Was Involved in Alleged Crystal Meth Incident

Florida

After news broke that a police report named him in an alleged crystal meth-involved drug overdose call, former Florida Democratic gubernatorial candidate

Andrew Gillum Responds To Report He Was Involved in Alleged Crystal Meth Incident | The Daily Wire

https://www.dailywire.com/news/andrew-gillum-responds-to-report-that-he-was-involved-in-alleged-crystal-meth-incident/

https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/03/Andrew-Gillum-1.jpg

The Trump administration announced on Wednesday the results from a massive federal operation targeting the Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG), which is one of the most notorious drug cartels in Mexico.
The Justice Department (DOJ) and the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) revealed that over 600 arrests had been made as a result of Project Python, which started late last year.
“Project Python marks the most comprehensive action to date in the Department of Justice’s campaign to disrupt, dismantle, and ultimately destroy CJNG,” Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Criminal Division said during a press conference. “When President Trump signed an Executive Order prioritizing the dismantlement of transnational criminal organizations, the Department of Justice answered the call and took direct aim at CJNG. We deemed CJNG one of the highest-priority transnational organized crime threats we face. And with Project Python, we are delivering results in the face of that threat for the American people.”
President Donald Trump&#8217;s Executive Order 13773 instructed federal officials to identify, interdict, disrupt, and dismantle drug cartels, which has been a top priority of Trump&#8217;s.
The statement added:
<blockquote>CJNG is one of the fastest growing transnational criminal organizations in Mexico, and among the most prolific methamphetamine producers in the world. It is responsible for a significant proportion of drugs entering the United States, and elevated levels of violence in Mexico. With methamphetamine abuse and overdose deaths on the rise, Project Python aims to disrupt CJNG’s ability to distribute methamphetamine and other drugs throughout the United States by attacking the group at all levels.
The efforts highlighted in the more than 600 arrests nationwide are illustrative of the significant reach the CJNG has in manufacturing, importing and distributing a wide array of illegal narcotics within the United States and the negative impact on the fabric of our local communities. The proceeds from the local distribution of these narcotics are repatriated back to Mexico and further fuel transnational organized criminal organizations such as the CJNG. The Department of Justice and its law enforcement partners will continue to vigorously fight this scourge against the United States.</blockquote>
The 2019 DEA National Drug Threat Assessment <a href="https://www.dea.gov/sites/default/files/2020-01/2019-NDTA-final-01-14-2020_Low_Web-DIR-007-20_2019.pdf">reported</a> the following about CJNG:
<blockquote>CJNG, based in the city of Guadalajara in the Mexican State of Jalisco, is the most recently formed of the six TCOs. With drug distribution hubs in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, and Atlanta, it is one of the most powerful and fastest growing cartels in Mexico and the United States. CJNG smuggles illicit drugs into the United States by accessing various trafficking corridors along the SWB including Tijuana, Juarez, and Nuevo Laredo. CJNG’s rapid expansion of its drug trafficking activities is characterized by the willingness to engage in violent confrontations with Mexican Government security forces and rival cartels. Like most major Mexican TCOs, CJNG is a poly-drug trafficking group, manufacturing and/or distributing large amounts of methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin, and fentanyl. CJNG reportedly has presence in at least 24 of 32 Mexican states.</blockquote>
“Project Python is the single largest strike by U.S. authorities against CJNG, and this is just the beginning,” Acting DEA Administrator Uttam Dhillon said during the press conference. “This strategic and coordinated project exemplifies DEA’s mission: to disrupt, dismantle, and destroy drug trafficking organizations around the world and bring their leaders to justice. Today, DEA has disrupted CJNG’s operations, and there is more to come as DEA continues its relentless attack on this remorseless criminal organization.”

Attorney General Jeff Sessions And Mexican Counterpart Announce Enforcement Efforts Against Mexican Drug Cartel

‘Just The Beginning’: Trump Strikes Notorious Mexican Drug Cartel, 600+ Arrests Made

Cartels

The Trump administration announced on Wednesday the results from a massive federal operation targeting the Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG),

‘Just The Beginning’: Trump Strikes Notorious Mexican Drug Cartel, 600+ Arrests Made | The Daily Wire

https://www.dailywire.com/news/just-the-beginning-trump-strikes-notorious-mexican-drug-cartel-600-arrests-made/

https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2019/10/Uttam-Dhillon.jpg

On Monday, four indictments were handed down against high-priced trainers who gave some of the best racehorses in the world performance-enhancing drugs. Some performance-enhancing drugs, if given to horses, can result in horses overexerting, which can trigger heart issues or death, as <a href="https://apnews.com/dc374ced6ba7ebd0d4303119a9811107">The Associated Press</a> noted, adding, “According to the indictments, other drugs used to deaden a horse’s sensitivity to pain to improve the horse’s performance could also lead to leg fractures.”
William F. Sweeney Jr., the FBI&#8217;s assistant director in charge of the New York office, stated, “These substances stimulated endurance, deadened nerves, increased oxygen intake and reduced inflammation. What actually happened to these horses amounted to nothing less than abuse. They experienced cardiac issues, overexertion leading to leg fractures, increased risk of injury and in some cases death,” as <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/horse-racing-trainers-veterinarians-charged-nationwide-doping-scandal-n1153126">NBC News</a> reported.
27 people were charged in the indictments; some of the charges included drug adulteration and misbranding conspiracy. Jason Servis, whose stable includes the racehorse Maximum Security, which won the 2019 Kentucky Derby before being disqualified for interference but has won four of five high-profile races since, was charged, along with fellow trainer Jorge Navarro.
NBC News added, &#8220;One of Navarro&#8217;s most prized thoroughbreds, X Y Jet, died of an apparent heart attack this year after receiving a significant amount of PEDs, in one instance 50 injections, according to the indictment.&#8221;
Servis is charged with giving Maximum Security SGF-1000, recommending it to Navarro, and conspiring with a veterinarian so the drug would appear to be a false positive for another substance. AP noted, “Servis is alleged to have given performance-enhancing drugs to ‘virtually all the racehorses under his control.’ He entered horses in races approximately 1,082 times from 2018 through February 2020, according to authorities.”
According to authorities, races in Florida, Kentucky, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, and the United Arab Emirates were affected.
The indictments stated, “The charges in this indictment result from a widespread, corrupt scheme by racehorse trainers, veterinarians, PED (performance-enhancing drug) distributors and others to manufacture, distribute and receive adulterated and misbranded PEDs and to secretly administer those PEDs to racehorses under scheme participants’ control,”
More from the indictments on the issue; one <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/press-release/file/1256646/download">stated:</a>
<blockquote>By evading PED prohibitions and deceiving regulators and horse racing authorities, among others, participants sought to improve race performance. Over the course of the scheme, participants manufactured, purchased, sold, shipped, delivered, received and administered, at least thousands of units of PEDs issued by pharmacies pursuant to invalid prescriptions provided by veterinarians participating in the scheme and customized PEDs created and manufactured by scheme participants intended for use on racehorses. Trainers who participated in the scheme stood to profit from the success of racehorses under their control by earning a share of their horse’s winnings, and by improving their horse’s racing records, thereby yielding higher training fees and increasing the number of racehorses under their control.</blockquote>
The indictments noted that between 2018 and February 2020, Servis entered horses in approximately 1,082 races, while Navarro entered horses in roughly 1,480 races.
Trainer Graham Motion, whose horses have won the Kentucky Derby, Dubai World Cup, and Breeders Cup, tweeted, “A sad day for racing but a long time coming. A good day for those who try to play by the rules, we will all be better for it.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
A sad day for racing but a long time coming. A good day for those who try to play by the rules, we will all be better for it.
&mdash; GrahamMotion (@GrahamMotion) <a href="https://twitter.com/GrahamMotion/status/1237023860375126019?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 9, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

X Y Jet wins the Dubai Golden Shaheen at Meydan Racecourse, UAE

Trainers Charged With Using Dangerous Performance-Enhancing Drugs On World’s Best Racehorses

horses

On Monday, four indictments were handed down against high-priced trainers who gave some of the best racehorses in the world performance-enhancing drugs.

Trainers Charged With Using Dangerous Performance-Enhancing Drugs On World’s Best Racehorses | The Daily Wire

https://www.dailywire.com/news/trainers-charged-with-using-dangerous-performance-enhancing-drugs-on-worlds-best-racehorses/

https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/03/GettyImages-1139962922.jpg

Amid the mass shootings, the substantial <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/khan-a-thin-line-separates-suicide-from-violence-among-men-today">uptick in suicides</a>, and the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/khan-addiction-fuels-homelessness-crisis-not-lack-sharif-khan">addiction epidemic</a>, the constant refrain seems to be that America is suffering a mental health crisis. Certainly, the numbers bear out when we consider prescription drug use to treat anxiety and depression alone.
<a href="https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/astounding-increase-in-antidepressant-use-by-americans-201110203624">Harvard University</a> reported that antidepressant use has increased by 400% since the 1990s:
<blockquote>According…to the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), the rate of antidepressant use in this country among teens and adults (people ages 12 and older) increased by almost 400% between 1988–1994 and 2005–2008.</blockquote>
Those statistics alone should be cause for some serious soul-searching for all of us. Such a staggering increase in antidepressant use certainly adds to the argument that America is quickly becoming a helpless, inoculated society of hopeless souls.
Even a popular <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UoMXF73j0c&amp;feature=youtu.be&amp;t=722">TED Talk</a> diagnosed our current plight with exacting precision:
<blockquote>We are the most addicted, we are the most medicated, obese, and in-debt adult cohort in human history.</blockquote>
Worse, the actual effectiveness of antidepressants is not at all confirmed when factoring in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/npp2012153">placebo</a>. In fact, the claims made by psychiatry and by pharmaceutical companies on antidepressants remain quite dogmatic. In a piece entitled “The Psychiatric Drug Crisis” for <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/the-psychiatric-drug-crisis">The New Yorker</a>, Gary Greenberg states the following:
<blockquote>Despite their continued failure to understand how psychiatric drugs work, doctors continue to tell patients that their troubles are the result of chemical imbalances in their brains. As Frank Ayd pointed out, this explanation helps reassure patients even as it encourages them to take their medicine, and it fits in perfectly with our expectation that doctors will seek out and destroy the chemical villains responsible for all of our suffering, both physical and mental. The theory may not work as science, but it is a devastatingly effective myth.</blockquote>
Sadly, simple physical exercise has been repeatedly proven to be more effective in treating mild to moderate depression. In 2014, <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/03/for-depression-prescribing-exercise-before-medication/284587/">The Atlantic Monthly</a> reported:
<blockquote>A 2011 study…looked at 127 depressed people who hadn’t experienced relief from SSRIs, a common type of antidepressant, and found that exercise <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21658349">led 30 percent of them into remission</a>—a result that was as good as, or better than, drugs alone.</blockquote>
If simple physical exercise can remedy an exceedingly common mental health issue, the fundamental problem with so many in America is, ultimately, a moral one. Our volition, our sense of courage and forbearance, are all now at a premium. However, so many are now accosted by a very insidious and nihilistic question: “What’s the point?”
Resignation and defeat seem to pervade the American landscape. We can barely even register notions of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/khan-men-must-learn-to-uphold-the-common-good-again">the common good</a>, never mind what is objectively good for ourselves.
The moral and ethical foundation that ought to buttress us in times of hardship and fatigue is cracked and crumbling, if not altogether broken. While the Left has certainly deconstructed our values into oblivion, we cannot disregard our collective <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/khan-anxiety-and-faith-in-these-modern-times">spiritual and moral lassitude</a> in this crisis either.
At best, only frail and brittle platitudes inform our collective moral pedigree these days. There are no longer discernible footholds to guide us out of the various trials and tribulations that assail us. Instead, we are told to inoculate ourselves with all manner of pills and potions. Others simply turn to illicit drugs and alcohol to remedy the existential aches.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/khan-faith-in-a-dark-time">A dull despair</a> seems the order of the day. We must do better. It’s imperative that we dust off and engage our moral compass once again for the betterment of each other, and for ourselves. And we must do so with courage, fortitude, and, most importantly, hope.

Man with pills

KHAN: Is America Suffering A Mental Health Crisis Or A Moral Crisis?

Mental health

Mental Illness

Morality

obesity

Prescription Drugs

Religion

Amid the mass shootings, the substantial uptick in suicides, and the addiction epidemic, the constant refrain seems to be that America is suffering a

KHAN: Is America Suffering A Mental Health Crisis Or A Moral Crisis? | The Daily Wire

https://www.dailywire.com/news/khan-is-america-suffering-a-mental-health-crisis-or-a-moral-crisis/

https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/02/9CC842C5-5C78-4D68-92BE-0847CC0CBC1D-scaled.jpeg

A man using a synthetic drug known as Spice allegedly has sawed off his own leg.
The Daily Star <a href="https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/weird-news/man-high-zombie-drug-spice-21547603">reported</a> Friday that the unnamed man reportedly took the “zombie drug” in Prokopyevsk, a city in western Russia, and then proceeded to cut his own leg off, leaving behind a bloody stump. (You can view the picture on the Star. Warning: graphic content.)
“Shocking pictures appear to show the man with a tourniquet wrapped around a bloody stump after he reportedly cut his left leg off above the knee,” the outlet reported. “Pictures shared shared [sic] on media show the man as he lies on a hospital gurney after doctors apparently battled to stem the blood and save his life. According to the reports, the man carried out the self-amputation after consuming Spice along with a cocktail of painkillers.”
The man somehow managed to get himself to the hospital. The Star reported that local Russian outlets said the man was taken to intensive care, but the images being shared on social media were from when he was being moved to a general ward.
The National Institutes of Health <a href="https://teens.drugabuse.gov/drug-facts/spice">describes</a> Spice as “a mix of herbs (shredded plant material) and laboratory-made chemicals with mind-altering effects. It is often called ‘synthetic marijuana’ or ‘fake weed’ because some of the chemicals in it are similar to ones in marijuana.”
The effects of the drug, however, can be vastly different. While Spice does yield some of the same results as marijuana – relaxation, elevated mood, altered perception, or feeling detached from reality – bad reactions can result in:
<ul>
<li>fast heart rate</li>
<li>throwing up</li>
<li>extreme anxiety or nervousness</li>
<li>hallucinations (seeing or hearing things that aren’t there)</li>
<li>feeling confused</li>
<li>violent behavior</li>
<li>suicidal thoughts</li>
</ul>
“Because the chemicals used in Spice have a high potential for abuse and no medical benefit, the Drug Enforcement Administration has made many of the active chemicals found in Spice illegal. However, the people who make these products try to avoid these laws by using different chemicals in their mixtures,” the NIH stated. “Spice is most often labeled ‘not for human consumption’ and disguised as incense. Sellers of the drug try to lead people to believe it is ‘natural’ and therefore harmless, but it is neither. In fact, the actual effects of spice can be unpredictable and, in some cases, severe or cause death.”
NIH also said Spice works differently on the brain than the THC in marijuana.
“What is known is that the chemicals found in Spice attach to the same nerve cell receptors as THC, the main mind-altering ingredient in marijuana. Some of the chemicals in Spice, however, attach to those receptors more strongly than THC, which could lead to much stronger effects,” NIH reported. “The resulting health effects can be unpredictable and dangerous. Additionally, there are many chemicals that remain unidentified in products sold as Spice and it is therefore not clear how they may affect the user.”
Spice has been said to leave users in a “zombie-like” state, but so far it doesn’t appear others have done anything as drastic as cutting off their own legs. It can be suspected the man might have been on something other than just Spice. The Daily Mail <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8029323/Russian-man-saws-leg-high-zombie-drug-spice.html">reported</a> that the man had taken Spice and “a cocktail of painkillers.”
Some commenters pointed out that the man would now qualify for disability benefits from the Russian government even though his wound was self-inflicted.

Synthetic Marijuana

Man Saws Off Own Leg While High On Drugs

Russia

A man using a synthetic drug known as Spice allegedly has sawed off his own leg. The Daily Star reported Friday that the unnamed man reportedly took the

Man Saws Off Own Leg While High On Drugs | The Daily Wire

https://www.dailywire.com/news/man-saws-off-own-leg-while-high-on-drugs/

https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/02/GettyImages-483036564.jpg

Mexican cartels are using children to smuggle drugs and weapons across the border into the United States and vice versa, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said.
Fox News <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/mexican-cartels-arizona-children-drug-smuggling">reported</a> that American children as young as 12 have been recruited by the cartels – and the problem is getting worse. In fiscal year 2018, about 36 children were arrested for narcotics-related offenses at Arizona’s points of entry. The next year that number increased to 57. There have already been 17 arrests in fiscal year 2020.
“It’s a problem, we know it’s there,&#8221; Tucson Sector Border Patrol agent Alan Regalado told Fox. &#8220;We’re trying to mitigate that issue through education and prevention.”
Regalado started the Together Educating and Mentoring Kids (TEAM Kids) program to try and stop children from getting recruited. He told Fox that after starting the program he soon realized it needed to be implemented before high school &#8212; as early as elementary school.
“We went out to local high schools and I noticed that students were already recruited at that point,&#8221; Regalado told Fox.
“There’s kids now being recruited in Phoenix, Tucson, not only for northbound activity but also southbound, where they are taking weapons from the United States into Mexico,&#8221; he added. &#8220;So, it’s not just the narcotics coming from Mexico into the United States.”
Regalado told the outlet that “These teenagers are either smuggling in vehicles, they’re smuggling on their body and in their body so it’s very dangerous.”
Three children have so far been prosecuted by the Santa Cruz County Attorney’s Office, Fox reported.
“As the county attorney I have the option of charging juveniles as adults if they’re 14 years of age or older and they commit a class two felony,” Santa Cruz County Attorney George Silva told the outlet. &#8220;Normally when they are transporting drugs for sale it’s going to be a class two felony.”
He added: “At this school I had promised the kids that if you are caught with dangerous drugs I’m sending you to prison and that’s what ended up happening to this 17 year old &#8230; this student was an honor roll student, you know he was a very good student, he wanted to go [Northern Arizona University] and he wanted to study criminal justice, so he thought &#8216;I can’t afford to go to college so one way of being able to pay for my college is to run dope.&#8217;”
Silva explained to the outlet that children are used to throw off law enforcement, but once kids started getting caught, the cartels use the elderly and pregnant women before switching back to children.
“[Children] do it because they think it’s cool but they also do it because of the easy money… the minimum sentence is 3.5 years and obviously prosecuting them as adults means that they would be convicted felons for the rest of their lives,” Silva told Fox.
WZTV <a href="https://abcstlouis.com/news/nation-world/report-mexican-cartels-hiring-american-children-as-young-as-12-years-old-to-smuggle-drugs-02-19-2020">reported</a> that the TEAM Kids program started by Regalado lasts four weeks and “warns students that cartel recruitment may even happen through social media and video games.”

Kids As Young As 12 Recruited By Mexican Cartels To Smuggle Drugs Across Border, Report Says

Arizona

Mexican cartels are using children to smuggle drugs and weapons across the border into the United States and vice versa, U.S. Customs and Border

Kids As Young As 12 Recruited By Mexican Cartels To Smuggle Drugs Across Border, Report Says | The Daily Wire

https://www.dailywire.com/news/kids-as-young-as-12-recruited-by-mexican-cartels-to-smuggle-drugs-across-border-report-says/

https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/02/GettyImages-1026596600.jpg

Recent protests in Los Angeles over attempts to end homeless encampments in public areas signal just how deranged many progressives have become over the pressing issue of addiction and homelessness in California and elsewhere. As the <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-01-24/homeless-activists-protest-echo-park-lake">Los Angeles Times</a> reported:
<blockquote>Homeless people and scores of activists protested as city crews arrived Friday for a cleanup at Echo Park Lake, publicly calling on Los Angeles City Councilman Mitch O’Farrell to meet with them and work out a deal allowing them to remain at the park. &#8230; If the city ejects the encampment, “it’s like breaking up a family,” said Davon Brown, who said he has lived in the Echo Park encampment for four months. “This is not a cleanup. This is a homeless eviction.”</blockquote>
Never mind how contradictory the notion of a “homeless eviction” actually is, what so many of these entitled activists fail to recognize is how these derelict encampments impact the working poor. It’s the working poor who have to navigate in perilous proximity to the many fatiguing criminal elements that fuel these encampments.
The working poor are the ones who are forced to deal directly with all the refuse and risk from the addiction epidemic. They have to contend with the many strung-out, dangerous individuals on their daily commutes on buses, subways, and sidewalks alongside all the trash, human waste, and hazardous needles that now infest their world.
Addicts literally took over a subway station in San Francisco according to a local <a href="https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2018/04/25/drug-users-san-francisco-civic-center-bart/">CBS News affiliate</a>. Shannon Gafford, a local commuter, documented the crisis, and the video rivals any depiction from fictional zombie apocalypse:
<blockquote>[O]ver the course of a week, Gafford documented his trip to work. His videos show dozens of people slumped along a hallway, open IV drug use, unconscious men and women, and piles of vomit on either side of the hallways.</blockquote>
Not only is drug use hopelessly prevalent in these encampments, so are drug dealing and all the nefarious consequences associated with it, including violence and prostitution. According to LAPD Captain Brian Morrison, most of these encampments are built around heroin and meth. He stated as much in a recent investigative piece for <a href="https://spectrumnews1.com/ca/la-west/news/2019/11/04/police--drug-addiction-plagues-westside-homeless-camps">Spectrum News 1</a> that details just how drug use remains the driving force in these many encampments throughout California.
<blockquote>“That encampment, from our perspective, is predominately built around drug use,” said Captain Brian Morrison, the new head of Los Angeles Police Department’s Pacific Division.</blockquote>
Worse, law enforcement has been hamstrung by insipid policies such as <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/khan-addiction-fuels-homelessness-crisis-not-lack-sharif-khan">Prop 47</a>. Drug arrests are no longer tenable as there are no longer substantive consequences for such crimes. Crimes that were once met with arrests and potential jail time now receive, at best, citations and stern warnings. Captain Morrison confirms this in the same interview:
<blockquote>Police have made nearly a dozen arrests for selling drugs, and a half dozen for possession or drug-related warrants. However, Morrison said Proposition 47 basically decriminalized drug use, that weak sentences for possession are not enough to urge addicts into rehab.</blockquote>
It’s high time progressives in California put down their oat milk lattes and deal with the reality of the addiction epidemic. Their meaningless protests and myopic attempts at compassion completely disregard the working poor, never mind common sense. Their self-righteous indignation simply tramples upon those desperately trying to actually better themselves.

Skid Row.

KHAN: The Addiction Epidemic Cripples The Working Poor

Los Angeles

Progressivism

Recent protests in Los Angeles over attempts to end homeless encampments in public areas signal just how deranged many progressives have become over the

KHAN: The Addiction Epidemic Cripples The Working Poor | The Daily Wire

https://www.dailywire.com/news/khan-the-addiction-epidemic-cripples-the-working-poor/

https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/02/69EBF1FE-FDB3-41DB-98A3-7A75DC311645.jpeg

Democrat presidential candidate Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (HI) repeatedly refused to answer questions on whether she desired to legalize all drugs, including heroin, when she was asked about the issue by Fox News&#8217; Sean Hannity on Monday night.
When asked whether there was anything that she wishes she could work with President Donald Trump on, Gabbard answered, &#8220;There&#8217;s far more we want to do on criminal justice reform. I would love to be able to work with President Trump on ending this failed war on drugs.&#8221;
Hannity proceeded to ask Gabbard two times whether she wanted to legalize all drugs and six times whether she wanted to legalize heroin, but Gabbard refused to answer any of the questions.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
HANNITY: Do you want to legalize heroin?
DEMOCRAT TULSI GABBARD: Refuses to answer
H: Heroin?
G:—
H: Heroin?
G:—
H: Would you legalize heroin?
G:—
H: Would you legalize heroin? Don’t make me be a jerk
G:—
H: Heroin, would you legalize it? Would you legalize it?
G:— <a href="https://t.co/d9z9f91PWK">pic.twitter.com/d9z9f91PWK</a>
&mdash; Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) <a href="https://twitter.com/RealSaavedra/status/1227134360333082624?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 11, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Gabbard is currently running a presidential campaign that is struggling to stay afloat. Real Clear Politics&#8217; average of national polls currently gives the congresswoman only <a href="https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2020/president/us/2020_democratic_presidential_nomination-6730.html">2 percent</a> of the Democratic vote and she has failed to gain traction in early primary states.
Below is an excerpt of Daily Wire Editor at Large Josh Hammer&#8217;s profile piece about Gabbard highlighting her background and policy views:
<blockquote>Tulsi Gabbard has served since 2013 as the U.S. congresswoman for Hawaii’s 2nd Congressional District — a sprawling district that covers large swaths of Oahu/Honolulu County and the entire state outside Oahu. A member of the Democratic Party, Gabbard served as vice chair of the Democratic National Committee from 2013 to 2016. Prior to her service in Congress, Gabbard served in the Hawaii state legislature and as a member of the Honolulu City Council. At the time of her initial successful run for the state legislature, Gabbard was only 21 years old.
Gabbard was born in American Samoa and is of mixed ethnic/religious background. Her Samoan father is a Catholic, and her Hoosier State native mother is a practicing Hindu; Gabbard herself is a practicing Hindu. Gabbard, who has a bachelor degree from Hawaii Pacific University, is a member of the Hawaii Army National Guard. She was deployed to Iraq from 2004 to 2005 as part of a medical field unit, and was subsequently deployed to Kuwait from 2008 to 2009.
Gabbard, a 2020 Democratic Party presidential candidate, is known for being a full-spectrum, far-left progressive who embraces social leftism, far-left economic policies, and a staunchly non-interventionist foreign policy. Perhaps above all else, she is known for her longstanding and unusually collegial ties with Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, who is supported by the Iranian and Russian regimes.
Electoral History: Gabbard first sought elected office in 2002, when she won her first election to the Hawaii state legislature. Gabbard was only 21 years old at the time. She served in the Hawaii House of Representatives until 2004, and subsequently served as a member of the Honolulu City Council from 2011 to 2012. She spent part of her time between the two political stints deployed in the Middle East with the Hawaii Army National Guard. She attained the rank of major in the National Guard in 2015.
Gabbard first ran for Congress in November 2012, shortly after being featured as a speaker at the 2012 Democratic National Convention. She was elected in a landslide in Hawaii’s deep-blue 2nd Congressional District. The seat had been previously occupied by Mazie Hirono, who is now the state’s junior U.S. senator. Gabbard was overwhelmingly re-elected in 2014, 2016, and 2018.</blockquote>
Continue reading: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/where-does-tulsi-gabbard-stand-issues-heres-josh-hammer">Where Does Tulsi Gabbard Stand On The Issues? Here’s Everything You Need To Know.</a>

Presidential Candidate Tulsi Gabbard Holds Town Hall In Portsmouth, NH

WATCH: Tulsi Gabbard Asked 6 Times If She Wants To Legalize Heroin

Tulsi Gabbard

Democrat presidential candidate Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (HI) repeatedly refused to answer questions on whether she desired to legalize all drugs, including

WATCH: Tulsi Gabbard Asked 6 Times If She Wants To Legalize Heroin | The Daily Wire

https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-tulsi-gabbard-asked-6-times-if-she-wants-to-legalize-heroin/

https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/02/Gabbard-scaled.jpg

Menu