crack cocaine

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Garland Tells Prosecutors to End Cocaine Case Disparities

House, Senate bills would alter gap first laid out by Sen. Biden

(Newser) - Federal prosecutors have been ordered to end sentencing disparities involving convictions for distributing cocaine: For decades, crack convictions have brought harsher punishments than powder cocaine offenses. Civil rights advocates and other opponents of the policy criticize the gap as harming Black and brown communities, a result of the government's...

Cops: Mayor Busted With Crack Cocaine After Chase

Tim Currier threw a gram out the window of his car, sheriff's office says

(Newser) - If politicians are involved in a chase, it usually has to do with votes or polling and not the cops, but the latter is the apparent plight of a small-town upstate New York mayor busted in an undercover sting. The St. Lawrence County Sheriff's Office says it arrested 55-year-old...

Wife Won't Like Florida Man's Excuse for Speeding

John Pickard allegedly told police he'd been unfaithful

(Newser) - A Florida man caught driving recklessly told police he "needed to get home in a hurry because he was cheating on his wife." That's according to an arrest affidavit naming John Earl Pickard, 52, who Tarpon Springs police say was driving 90mph in a 55mph zone on...

Senate Passes Sweeping Criminal Justice Overhaul

Trump says he looks forward to signing it

(Newser) - The Senate passed a sweeping criminal justice bill Tuesday that addresses concerns that the nation's war on drugs had led to the imprisonment of too many Americans for non-violent crimes without adequately preparing them for their return to society. Senate passage of the bill by a vote of 87-12...

Dog That Killed Owner Likely High on Crack

Cocaine was detected in his urine, says toxicologist

(Newser) - It looks like a dog that fatally attacked its owner in London was high on crack cocaine. During a coroner's inquest, a veterinary toxicologist testified that high levels of the drug and of morphine were found in the urine of the Staffordshire bull terrier named Major following the March...

'Dedicated' Ex-Chemist Was High at Work for 8 Years
'Dedicated' Ex-Chemist Was High at Work for 8 Years
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May 8, 2016 1:10 PM CDT

'Dedicated' Ex-Chemist Was High at Work for 8 Years

No one noticed until the end that Sonja Farak was heavily abusing Mass. lab's drugs

(Newser) - Even Walter White knew not to sample the wares, a lesson that could have served Sonja Farak well. The now 37-year-old former chemist for the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and the Massachusetts State Police was arrested in 2013 and sentenced in 2014 to 18 months in jail for getting...

Guy Brings Crack to Pal in ICU, Fire Ensues

Cops also charge Lee Vern Cook with gun possession

(Newser) - If you're stuck in the ICU on Christmas Eve, it's good to have friends to help you liven the joint up and Lee Vern Cook is apparently the best of these sorts of friends: The 54-year-old stands charged with a bevy of offenses after police say he brought...

Meet the Man Who Helped Flood Chicago With Crack

Norman Tillman, once part of Rick Ross' crew, has changed his ways

(Newser) - Norman Tillman was a key figure in the spread of crack through his hometown of Chicago—and other major and minor cities—in the 1980s. But at 55, he's a very different man, DNAInfo reports. "If I would have understood then what I know now at my age,...

Poll: Rob Ford Could Actually Get Re-Elected

Even though he made football players roll in goose poop

(Newser) - The good people of Toronto appear to be quite a forgiving bunch: The latest poll suggests Rob Ford, whose crack cocaine use and other antics have drawn worldwide media attention, has a pretty good shot at being re-elected as mayor in October, the Washington Post reports. The poll released yesterday...

Rob Ford: I've Used Almost All Drugs

Mayor says he's taking it one day at a time

(Newser) - Rob Ford is out of rehab , back in Toronto City Hall, and coming clean about his past bad behavior. In interviews with the CBC and CP24 , the mayor said his drug use began long before he took office and included pretty much every "drug you can think of,"...

Rob Ford Had Run-in With ... Bieber

Ford flew to Chicago yesterday for rehab

(Newser) - They tried to make him go to rehab—and he finally said yes. In what his allies, his critics, and his siblings say is a long overdue move, Toronto Mayor Rob Ford has taken a leave of absence to seek help with his substance abuse problems. He flew to Chicago,...

Rob Ford to 'Get Help' as New Crack Video Surfaces

Mayor taking a break from re-election campaign

(Newser) - Toronto Mayor Rob Ford seems to have tumbled off the wagon yet again—right in the middle of his re-election campaign. After a new video of him allegedly smoking crack and a tape of him ranting drunkenly in a bar surfaced, the mayor said he is "ready to take...

Thousands of Drug Offenders Get New Shot at Clemency

White House calls for 'justice, fairness, proportionality'

(Newser) - Thousands of nonviolent drug offenders now serving long sentences in federal prisons could receive clemency from President Obama under a major Department of Justice overhaul. Attorney General Eric Holder announced yesterday that "a larger field of eligible individuals" will be eligible for clemency under new guidelines and the administration...

Oh, Canada: Vending Machines Hawk Crack Pipes

Nonprofit tries to boost health of Vancouver users

(Newser) - A pair of jaunty, polka-dotted vending machines in Vancouver are selling something unusual: Crack pipes for a quarter. They have been installed to make sure addicts have a cheap, reliable source of pipes. "They don’t run the risk of then sharing pipes, or pipes that are chipped or...

Obama Commutes 8 Crack Cocaine Sentences

They were unfairly sentenced under harsh laws, says the president

(Newser) - Eight people who have been imprisoned for at least 15 years over non-violent crack cocaine offenses got welcome news from President Obama today: He's commuting their sentences, reports NBC News . The move is part of the Obama administration's push to correct what it sees as unfair federal drug...

Ford Partied at Crackhouses With Blackmailing Gangsters

Yet more trouble, but at least he's not implicated in murder

(Newser) - The Rob Ford saga has taken a big lurch forward with the release of police wiretap files detailing how the Toronto mayor partied and took drugs with gang members—and how his life got pretty complicated as a result. Key allegations from the police files, as detailed by the National ...

In Toronto, Mutiny Brews Vs. Crack-Smoking Mayor

City Council aims to 'shun' Rob Ford, 'curtail his power'

(Newser) - Toronto's crack-smoking mayor has made it clear he's not going anywhere despite his many scandals , but City Council has other ideas. Councilors will today consider a motion that would call on Rob Ford to apologize, take a leave of absence, and cooperate with a police investigation into his...

Stewart Skewers 'Crack Mayor': Go to Rehab

And Toronto, stop enabling Rob Ford, Stewart says

(Newser) - So Rob Ford admits to smoking crack cocaine, " probably in one of my drunken stupors ," but insists he won't step down as mayor of Toronto. On the Daily Show last night, Jon Stewart offered up the only possible reaction to that: "This guy's got huge...

Toronto Mayor: 'Forever Sorry', but Won't Quit

Rob Ford apologizes for embarrassing city but won't step down

(Newser) - Hours after he finally admitted to reporters that he had, in fact, smoked crack, Toronto Mayor Rob Ford went before the cameras for another public statement. Would he step down, as the city council and all the city's newspapers would like? Not so much. But he is very sorry....

Toronto Mayor: I Smoked Crack 'in Drunken Stupor'

But Rob Ford insists he's not an addict

(Newser) - Embattled Toronto Mayor Rob Ford admitted that he'd at least used crack today, in what the CBC describes as a "scrum" with reporters outside city hall. "Yes, I have smoked crack cocaine," he said. "Am I an addict? No. Have I tried it? Um, probably...

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