Tag: the war on (some) drugs

COVID-19 Vaccine Approved In Under a Year As Gov’t Keeps Cannabis Schedule 1 Drug

Because they work on the front lines, healthcare workers are eligible to skip to the front of the line to receive the jab of the vaccine that was developed in record time. However, despite assurances from vaccine makers and their revolving door friends in the Food and Drug Administration, many of these front line workers are leery of this rushed product.

“I think I would take the vaccine later on, but right now I am a little leery of it,” nurse Yolanda Dodson, 55, who works at the Montefiore Hospital in New York City and spent the spring in the heart of the deadly fight against the virus told AFP.

“Vaccine studies so far “look promising but I don’t think there is enough data yet,” Dodson said.

“This is a vaccine that was developed in less than a year and approved under the same administration and government agencies that allowed the virus to spread like a wildfire,” Diana Torres, a nurse at a Manhattan hospital who saw several of her co-workers die of the virus this spring, said.

“They didn’t have enough time and people to study the vaccine,” she said. “This time around I will pass and watch how it unfolds.”

“They failed miserably with PPE (personal protective equipment) and testing and now they want you to be guinea pigs for the vaccine,” Torres friend added.

These are front line health care workers, experiencing the pandemic every day of their lives, and yet they remain skeptical — and rightfully so.

What’s more, the government’s selective approval process has been less than stellar given the opioid epidemic, and the millions of people harmed by FDA-approved medications. Highlighting the lapse in their judgement is the fact that as the government fast tracks this vaccine to market, cannabis — that has never killed a single person and has been around as long as we have — remains classified as follows:

a drug with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.

Seems legit.

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Upstate NY Mayor, Fmr Police Chief, Leads Cops on Chase, Throwing Crack From His Car

In a story that sounds like something out of an episode of an Adult Swim cartoon, the Mayor of Massena, NY, and the town’s former police chief was arrested this month after speeding away from police while throwing crack cocaine out of the window of his car.

Timmy J. Currier, the former police chief and current mayor of the village of Massena has announced a leave of absence this month after video showed him getting arrested at gunpoint after leading police on a high speed chase.

Before becoming mayor of Massena, Currier was the city’s top cop. He was the Massena police chief for over two decades — which is likely where he developed his affinity for crack.

According to police, during the chase, this former chief of police and current mayor began throwing crack out of the window to avoid getting caught with it.

The incident began as part of an undercover sting operation in which Currier was a suspect. Officials with the St. Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office said detectives and special agents from an undercover operation in association with the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security attempted to pull Currier’s vehicle over on suspicion of drug sales and possession on Saturday Dec. 1, at 12:25 p.m.

However, Currier did not stop when police initiated the stop and instead led them on a chase. Detectives said they witnessed Currier throw the crack from his passenger’s side window as he was the only occupant of the vehicle.

When police finally caught up to Currier, the mayor was held at gunpoint and pulled from the car, before being handcuffed and brought to jail. According to Syracuse.com, Currier was charged with seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, a misdemeanor, and released to appear at a later date.

Apparently, his two decades as the police chief and his current position as the mayor, has granted him a little privilege among the law enforcement class and he was simply allowed to walk right out of the jail, posting no bail, and facing no other charges despite running from cops.

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