Cocaine using clubbers are typically 18-45 year old white male owners who own their own homes, police drug test expert PC Adrian Parsons told a Home Office enquiry on Britain’s cocaine culture, last week.

The Kent police drugs expert scans clubbers’ hands outside clubs and pubs and said he can usually spot users long before he tests them based on their belligerence and ‘extreme paranoia’ (‘especially if you try to look up their nose’).

“They are louder than normal people. They are non-stop talkers. They are arrogant and feel invincible,” PC Parsons continued, “They are happy to ridicule bystanders who are not part of their group, particularly police officers.” (Guardian; http://bit.ly/uhiF1x )

And possibly Australian; at least judging by Sydney Morning Herald reporter David Marr, who this week outed himself as an enthusiastic drug user.

“I’ve had a lot of fun on drugs,” the respected commentator admitted (in an article headlined “A nation of junkies … drug use is common in Australia’s clubs’.)

“I’ve had a lot of marvellous experiences. I’ve danced a lot. I’ve had a great time,” he continued. “I’m not ashamed of it. And I don’t see what’s wrong with it.” (Sydney Morning Herald; http://bit.ly/tq3PXg )

In the same article he also quoted Melbourne University drugs expert Professor Craig Fry, on the hypocrisy that many users also exhibit.

“Privately, we are a nation of drunks, junkies and pill-poppers and we always have been,” Professor Fry declared.

“Publicly, the dominant community attitude on drugs in Australia is disapproval and fear, and this feeling seems to be growing.”

Jonty Skrufff: http://listn.to/JontySkrufff

Bernie Madoff

High-flying financiers in London are spending their bonuses in cocaine bars where ‘it is as easy to order a gram of cocaine as it is a mozzarella panini – all claimable on company expenses’, the Standard reported this week.

The paper chatted to bankers who boasted of blowing tens of thousands of pounds on cocaine, consumer goods and prostitutes and said they did so with implicit impunity from unusually tolerant local cops.

“To be frank, we have to concentrate resources on the crimes that most affect society. Traders and bankers taking cocaine does not affect others’ lives as much as violent crime, burglary and fraud, “ a senior City of London police source told the Standard.

“They are wealthy people who can afford drugs and don’t need to rob to fund their addiction. The only real problems are personal,” he added. (Standard: http://bit.ly/uapxOQ )

Details of London’s de-facto drugs decriminalization for rich bankers coincided with a report in the US press describing Wall Street bankers feeling equally free to take cocaine and high grade cannabis, with many feeling ‘entitled to illicit drugs given their paychecks and stress of their jobs’.

“The titans of Wall Street normalize crazy behavior all the time,” Brad Lamm, president of Intervention Heavy Users told the USDVista financial blog.

“If somebody’s delivering and showing up and doing the work, they almost have to catch on fire for someone to sound the alarm.” (theUSDVista.com: ‘Wall Street turns a blind eye to drugs: http://bit.ly/tOlzSM )

Jonty Skrufff: http://listn.to/JontySkrufff

Concerned mothers in America have launched a campaign group Moms United to End the War on Drugs dedicated to fighting the war on drugs.

Speaking about the fast-growing organisation this week, Moms United founder Gretchen Burns Bergman said she was inspired by the example of mothers who helped overturn alcohol Prohibition last century.

“Mothers were instrumental in ending alcohol prohibition in the United States in the 30’s, not because they were in favor of alcohol, but because they wanted to end the gangland violence and loss of lives caused by organized crime, fueled by prohibition,” she told Alternet.org.

“Mothers, again, are leading the charge, for the sake of our children, and future generations to come, just as women did many decades ago to end alcohol prohibition. We are fed up and raising our voices in favor of control, regulation and legalization of marijuana. We’ve seen too many families that have been ravaged by both addiction and the criminal justice system,” she added.

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Writing on their website, the organization noted the devastating impact of overdoses, incarceration and exclusion caused by the laws.

“We are building a movement to stop the stigmatization and criminalization of people who use drugs or who are addicted to drugs,” they said.

“Taxing and regulating marijuana could eventually raise billions in tax revenues, cut law enforcement and prison waste, and take income out of the hands of criminal syndicates. We encourage you to join Moms United to End the War on Drugs.”

Jonty Skrufff: http://listn.to/JontySkrufff

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