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Police bust 
10:39 PM CST, January 30, 2008
Post comment Text size: The Cicero police commander accused of having a Digg Del.icio.us Facebook Fark Google Newsvine Reddit Yahoo Print Reprints burned marijuana cigarette and a bag of marijuana in his car after being stopped last weekend on Chicago's South Side is scheduled to take a drug test Thursday that could determine his future at the Police Department.
Wesley Scott, a 21-year police veteran, was cited by Chicago police Sunday night with misdemeanor marijuana possession after allegedly running a stop sign in the Englewood neighborhood, officials said.
Officers found about one-sixth of an ounce of marijuana on the console of his vehicle, Chicago police have said.
Scott, 47, has taken paid personal days since the arrest but will be at work Thursday to take the follicle drug test, town spokesman Dan Proft said Wednesday. It was unclear if he would work, Proft said.
Proft said the department waited more than three days to administer the test because "it's his prerogative to use his personal days and consult with his attorney."
The department has no concerns about the results being affected by the delay, he said. Proft has said a failed test could cost Scott his job.
Man sues city of Aurora
AURORA - Desert Storm veteran Kevin Dickes is planning to sue the city of Aurora for destroying his medical marijuana. However, because of some discrepancies in what he's told police and reporters, Dickes may have hurt his own case.
Dickes was arrested in April 2007 and arrested for possession of marijuana after Aurora Police found 71 marijuana plants growing inside his home. Dickes has a doctor's card authorizing him to use medical marijuana, but he didn't tell police about it during his arrest.
They found out about the card when his girlfriend came home and told them. Police also then found his medical marijuana use card.
By then, Dickes had been taken to the police station and most of the marijuana had been confiscated and destroyed.
Aurora Police Chief Dan Oates says Dickes could have prevented the whole thing. "Had we known up front, we would have taken pictures of his grow operation, taken samples from a couple of plants and we would have left everything, but he didn't tell us," said Oates.
Police videotaped the raid of Dickes' home, which is routine on drug arrests. However, there are now two versions of the video.
The Aurora Police Department version, which is the one on file with the court as evidence, shows that officers learned about Dickes' medical marijuana permit 20 minutes and 29 seconds into the tape.
City leaders sue Hailey Idaho over pro-marijuana laws
The Associated Press
HAILEY, Idaho The mayor, a city councilor, and the chief of police of this central Idaho city plan to sue the city over three pro-marijuana initiatives that were approved by voters but conflict with state law.
Mayor Rick Davis, who made the announcement Monday after the City Council met in executive session, said the resulting judgment by the court will be used by the city as its guide for dealing with the initiatives.
"It's going to tell us what we can enforce legally and what we cannot," Davis told the Idaho Mountain Express. "I just want to get if from the court."
He said the complexities and unusual nature of the situation required city leaders to sue the city they represent.
"It has to be somebody that has an interest in the initiatives," he told The Associated Press on Wednesday. "And I guess that wouldbe us because we're the ones who have to enforce it."
Regular Marijuana Use Increases Risk Of Hepatitis C-related Liver Damage
ScienceDaily (Jan. 29, 2008 Patients with chronic hepatitis C (HCV) infection should not use marijuana (cannabis) daily, according to a study published in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, the official journal of the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Institute. Researchers found that HCV patients who used cannabis daily were at significantly higher risk of moderate to severe liver fibrosis, or tissue scarring. Additionally, patients with moderate to heavy alcohol use combined with regular cannabis use experienced an even greater risk of liver fibrosis. The recommendation to avoid cannabis is especially important in patients who are coinfected with HCV/HIV since the progression of fibrosis is already greater in these patients.
"Hepatitis C is a major public health concern and the number of patients developing complications of chronic disease is on the rise," according to Norah Terrault, MD, MPH, from the University of California, San Francisco and lead investigator of the study. "It is essential that we identify risk factors that can be modified to prevent and/or lessen the progression of HCV to fibrosis, cirrhosis and even liver cancer. These complications of chronic HCV infection will significantly contribute to the overall burden of liver disease in the U.S. and will continue to increase in the next decade."
This is the first study that evaluates the relationship between alcohol and cannabis use in patients with HCV and those coinfected with HCV/HIV. It is of great importance to disease management that physicians understand the factors influencing HCV disease severity, especially those that are potentially modifiable. The use and abuse of both alcohol and marijuana together is not an uncommon behavior. Also, individuals who are moderate and heavy users of alcohol may use cannabis as a substitute to reduce their alcohol intake, especially after receiving a diagnosis like HCV, which affects their liver.
Researchers found a significant association between daily versus non-daily cannabis use and moderate to severe fibrosis when reviewing this factor alone. Other factors contributing to increased fibrosis included age at enrollment, lifetime duration of alcohol use, lifetime duration of moderate to heavy alcohol use and necroinflammatory score (stage of fibrosis). In reviewing combined factors, there was a strong (nearly 7-fold higher risk) and independent relationship between daily cannabis use and moderate to severe fibrosis. Gender, race, body mass index, HCV viral load and genotype, HIV coinfection, source of HCV infection, and biopsy length were not significantly associated with moderate to severe fibrosis.
Of the 328 patients screened for the study, 204 patients were included in the analysis. The baseline characteristics of those included in the study were similar to those excluded with the exception of daily cannabis use (13.7 percent of those studied used cannabis daily versus 6.45 percent of those not included). Patients who used cannabis daily had a significantly lower body mass index than non-daily users (25.2 versus 26.4), were more likely to be using medically prescribed cannabis (57.1 percent versus 8.79 percent), and more likely to have HIV coinfection (39.3 percent versus 18.2 percent).
The prevalence of cannabis use amongst adults in the U.S. is estimated to be almost 4 percent. Regular use has increased in certain population subgroups, including those aged 18 to 29.
Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver. Hepatitis C is the most common form of hepatitis and infects nearly 4 million people in the U.S., with an estimated 150,000 new cases diagnosed each year. While it can be spread through blood transfusions and contaminated needles, for a substantial number of patients, the cause is unknown. This form of viral hepatitis may lead to cirrhosis, or scarring, of the liver. Coinfection of hepatitis C in patients who are HIV positive is common; about one quarter of patients infected with HIV are infected with hepatitis C. The majority of these patients, 50 to 90 percent, were infected through injection drug use.
10:39 PM CST, January 30, 2008
Post comment Text size: The Cicero police commander accused of having a Digg Del.icio.us Facebook Fark Google Newsvine Reddit Yahoo Print Reprints burned marijuana cigarette and a bag of marijuana in his car after being stopped last weekend on Chicago's South Side is scheduled to take a drug test Thursday that could determine his future at the Police Department.
Wesley Scott, a 21-year police veteran, was cited by Chicago police Sunday night with misdemeanor marijuana possession after allegedly running a stop sign in the Englewood neighborhood, officials said.
Officers found about one-sixth of an ounce of marijuana on the console of his vehicle, Chicago police have said.
Scott, 47, has taken paid personal days since the arrest but will be at work Thursday to take the follicle drug test, town spokesman Dan Proft said Wednesday. It was unclear if he would work, Proft said.
Proft said the department waited more than three days to administer the test because "it's his prerogative to use his personal days and consult with his attorney."
The department has no concerns about the results being affected by the delay, he said. Proft has said a failed test could cost Scott his job.
Man sues city of Aurora
AURORA - Desert Storm veteran Kevin Dickes is planning to sue the city of Aurora for destroying his medical marijuana. However, because of some discrepancies in what he's told police and reporters, Dickes may have hurt his own case.
Dickes was arrested in April 2007 and arrested for possession of marijuana after Aurora Police found 71 marijuana plants growing inside his home. Dickes has a doctor's card authorizing him to use medical marijuana, but he didn't tell police about it during his arrest.
They found out about the card when his girlfriend came home and told them. Police also then found his medical marijuana use card.
By then, Dickes had been taken to the police station and most of the marijuana had been confiscated and destroyed.
Aurora Police Chief Dan Oates says Dickes could have prevented the whole thing. "Had we known up front, we would have taken pictures of his grow operation, taken samples from a couple of plants and we would have left everything, but he didn't tell us," said Oates.
Police videotaped the raid of Dickes' home, which is routine on drug arrests. However, there are now two versions of the video.
The Aurora Police Department version, which is the one on file with the court as evidence, shows that officers learned about Dickes' medical marijuana permit 20 minutes and 29 seconds into the tape.
City leaders sue Hailey Idaho over pro-marijuana laws
The Associated Press
HAILEY, Idaho The mayor, a city councilor, and the chief of police of this central Idaho city plan to sue the city over three pro-marijuana initiatives that were approved by voters but conflict with state law.
Mayor Rick Davis, who made the announcement Monday after the City Council met in executive session, said the resulting judgment by the court will be used by the city as its guide for dealing with the initiatives.
"It's going to tell us what we can enforce legally and what we cannot," Davis told the Idaho Mountain Express. "I just want to get if from the court."
He said the complexities and unusual nature of the situation required city leaders to sue the city they represent.
"It has to be somebody that has an interest in the initiatives," he told The Associated Press on Wednesday. "And I guess that wouldbe us because we're the ones who have to enforce it."
Regular Marijuana Use Increases Risk Of Hepatitis C-related Liver Damage
ScienceDaily (Jan. 29, 2008 Patients with chronic hepatitis C (HCV) infection should not use marijuana (cannabis) daily, according to a study published in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, the official journal of the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Institute. Researchers found that HCV patients who used cannabis daily were at significantly higher risk of moderate to severe liver fibrosis, or tissue scarring. Additionally, patients with moderate to heavy alcohol use combined with regular cannabis use experienced an even greater risk of liver fibrosis. The recommendation to avoid cannabis is especially important in patients who are coinfected with HCV/HIV since the progression of fibrosis is already greater in these patients.
"Hepatitis C is a major public health concern and the number of patients developing complications of chronic disease is on the rise," according to Norah Terrault, MD, MPH, from the University of California, San Francisco and lead investigator of the study. "It is essential that we identify risk factors that can be modified to prevent and/or lessen the progression of HCV to fibrosis, cirrhosis and even liver cancer. These complications of chronic HCV infection will significantly contribute to the overall burden of liver disease in the U.S. and will continue to increase in the next decade."
This is the first study that evaluates the relationship between alcohol and cannabis use in patients with HCV and those coinfected with HCV/HIV. It is of great importance to disease management that physicians understand the factors influencing HCV disease severity, especially those that are potentially modifiable. The use and abuse of both alcohol and marijuana together is not an uncommon behavior. Also, individuals who are moderate and heavy users of alcohol may use cannabis as a substitute to reduce their alcohol intake, especially after receiving a diagnosis like HCV, which affects their liver.
Researchers found a significant association between daily versus non-daily cannabis use and moderate to severe fibrosis when reviewing this factor alone. Other factors contributing to increased fibrosis included age at enrollment, lifetime duration of alcohol use, lifetime duration of moderate to heavy alcohol use and necroinflammatory score (stage of fibrosis). In reviewing combined factors, there was a strong (nearly 7-fold higher risk) and independent relationship between daily cannabis use and moderate to severe fibrosis. Gender, race, body mass index, HCV viral load and genotype, HIV coinfection, source of HCV infection, and biopsy length were not significantly associated with moderate to severe fibrosis.
Of the 328 patients screened for the study, 204 patients were included in the analysis. The baseline characteristics of those included in the study were similar to those excluded with the exception of daily cannabis use (13.7 percent of those studied used cannabis daily versus 6.45 percent of those not included). Patients who used cannabis daily had a significantly lower body mass index than non-daily users (25.2 versus 26.4), were more likely to be using medically prescribed cannabis (57.1 percent versus 8.79 percent), and more likely to have HIV coinfection (39.3 percent versus 18.2 percent).
The prevalence of cannabis use amongst adults in the U.S. is estimated to be almost 4 percent. Regular use has increased in certain population subgroups, including those aged 18 to 29.
Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver. Hepatitis C is the most common form of hepatitis and infects nearly 4 million people in the U.S., with an estimated 150,000 new cases diagnosed each year. While it can be spread through blood transfusions and contaminated needles, for a substantial number of patients, the cause is unknown. This form of viral hepatitis may lead to cirrhosis, or scarring, of the liver. Coinfection of hepatitis C in patients who are HIV positive is common; about one quarter of patients infected with HIV are infected with hepatitis C. The majority of these patients, 50 to 90 percent, were infected through injection drug use.