Quod me nutrit me destruit*, indeed.For Nadine Artemis and Ron Obadia, August began with plans for a family vacation in Minnesota. The vacation ended with the two Canadian citizens being led through Toronto's airport in handcuffs, locked up and separated from their baby.
"We were dumbfounded," Artemis says. Police told them they could be facing years in prison for exporting narcotics, because 2.5 pounds of material found in their carry-on bag tested positive for hashish. "All we knew was that we didn't have drugs."
They were telling the truth. They didn't have drugs. They had chocolate.
The couple were caught up in what civil libertarians, public defenders and some narcotics experts say is a growing problem: the use of unreliable field drug-test kits as the basis to arrest innocent people on illegal drug charges.
The inexpensive test kits are used by virtually every police department in the country and by federal agents, including Customs officers at the nation's borders. The kits test suspicious materials, and a positive result generally leads to an arrest and court date, pending more sophisticated tests done after the sample is sent to a lab.
The kits use powerful acids that react with the substance in a plastic pouch. If the liquid turns a certain color, it is a considered a positive result. But a number of legal products and plants test positive: chocolate for hashish; rosemary for marijuana; and natural soaps for the "date-rape drug" GHB.
"The tests have no validity," says former FBI narcotics investigator Frederick Whitehurst. And as more organic products come on the market, "the potential for civil rights violations when these presumptive tests are out there is phenomenal."
Although police have been using the field test kits for decades, "there's no regulation, no oversight that these drug tests perform in any way," says Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps President David Bronner, whose products have tested positive for GHB.
With the growth of organic and natural foods and products, experts say arrests may increase.
"We are alarmed by the growing number of people who have been taken to jail for simply possessing organic products," says Ronnie Cummins, director of the Organic Consumers Association.
On Aug. 29, Artemis and Obadia, founders of Living Libations, a company that makes organic and natural food and beauty products in Haliburton, Ontario, were cleared of the charges when lab tests showed they were simply transporting chocolate. [...]
So far, the couple's legal bills have topped $20,000, covered in part by Bronner's company.
Allen Miller of Forensic Source, which makes kits, says they find "families of chemical compounds" and are not meant to be definitive. Any arrest should be the result of good investigative police work, Miller says.
But Adam Wolf of the ACLU says "police officers and drug-test companies should not subject our constitutional rights to a game of chance."
Adair Park, on Lakeland Hills Blvd. next to Henley Field is Lakeland’s only Skate Park.
photos credit: by Tom Hagerty for Lakeland Local
HEAD COACH JON GRUDEN
(On injured players)
“Pretty much everything’s the same. Alex Smith did more today than yesterday, which is a good sign. Jermaine [Phillips] did well this week. We’ll just have to make some decisions, obviously, on game day.”
(On Jeff Garcia being in better form now than he was in the season opener against the Saints)
“Yeah, there’s no question. He was idle for a long time before the first game. He missed the whole camp, basically. He had a calf strain; I think he hurt his ankle in the Saints game if I’m not mistaken. So, yeah, he’s playing really well for us. I think his last six starts show that.”
(On getting a pass rush on Drew Brees)
“This guy is a different kind of quarterback. We had good pressure in New Orleans. Sometimes the guy gets rid of the ball; the guy gets rid of the rock, man. This guy’s phenomenal. This guy’s one of the best in the world at what he does. Sometimes you have a heck of a rush and he still slithers and slides and throws it sidearm or throws it left-handed. He’s a hard guy to get to. He knows where the hot receiver is, he knows how to change protections. Blitzing him, getting there, is easier said than done. It will be a big key to the game, though, I know that.”
(On how Carnell Williams came out of his first game and this week of practice)
“He came out really good. He needed that. I think a lot of the offensive guys are probably disappointed that we didn’t throw it, but we wanted to give him repeated runs. And they were hard looks, too. They knew we were running it and we made no mistake about that. But he was able to get 12 or 13 carries in a 15-play span and I think he got confidence back from that performance. He ran hard, made a couple nice jump-cuts in the hole, protected the ball. Earnest Graham’s out for the year; he’s going to have to pick up the slack for us.”
(On keeping Jerramy Stevens involved in the offense)
“He’s always been part of our thinking. He’s getting better as a complete tight end. He’s a guy we’re confident can stay in the game and be a blocker. He deserves to play more. That’s what happens. When you get out there and get a chance to perform, if you perform well you get chance to keep performing. We’ll try to use all three of those tight ends because we consider them to be good players.”
(On if Stevens had room to improve in his blocking when he got to Tampa)
” He was in more of a receiving role as a tight end in Seattle. He’s really doing some good things. I’ve said all along, I consider him a really talented guy, and if he can do it all he’ll be on the field a lot more.”
(On if Phillips will wear a protective cast or some cushioning on the arm he injured)
“He’ll wear something. I don’t think he’ll wear a cast but we’ll put something creatively on there to give him a little extra padding. But he’s been cleared to play and I think he’s confident in the arm. The forearm area feels like it’s healed well enough where he can go play.”
Just a couple of miles off I-75 on Highway 54 is Barnie’s Coffee and Tea of Lutz, Florida. It’s about a 50 minute drive from downtown Lakeland.
Now, don’t try to guess where I’m going. This isn’t a call to drive to a coffee shop 40 miles away when we have Black and Brew and Mitchells. (Even though I can’t get either to sell me iced tea at 7:30 am.)
The headline should have given you the clue.
Noel Rosa is playing live this Saturday the 29th from about 6:30 to 9 pm. Rosa is a local singer/songwriter who happens to play an amazing guitar. Here’s a clip:
I interviewed Rosa for an article due in January and had the opportunity to hear him play one of his new signature guitars. A wonderful sound from a new style instrument inspired by Rosa’s spine injury. A debilitating injury that kept him from touring for two years.
Recently was cleared to tour again, Rosa has a new EP and has spent the last three weeks traversing Maine. He’s now looking forward to playing close to home.
Rosa first made his name in the Christian Contemporary field (mp3 sample), but his new work is taking the artist into the adult contemporary singer/songwriter arena. So, if you’ve never heard Rosa play before, you’re in for a new treat. If you’ve heard him play, you’ve not heard the new Noel Rosa.
We’ve converted one of our rooms into a home office. The windows look out over the backyard and there’s always a lot of critter activity, winged insects, butterflies, squirrels, and birds for me to watch when I turn away from my computer screen.
I’m pretty sure I just saw a bald eagle flying by a few moments ago, high, high above my citrus trees. I’m not really a bird-watcher, don’t know anything about them at all, but I’ve seen plenty of moving images of bald eagles flying on commercials and crummy US history documentaries.
A quick Google search reveals that there are most likely two bald eagle nests within a five mile radius of my zip code.
There are several types of large birds I often see flying around, but this one was pretty distinctive. Does anyone know where I can find out more about the large birds flying overhead?
Alex Leary has a good piece about Representative Ray Sansom’s unfortunate coincidence. It seems that no sooner did he help increase government funds allocated to Northwest Florida State College from $1 million to over $25 million than he got a job at the college. Quid pro quo? Sansom and NFSC president Richburg deny it, but the only responsible and ethical thing for Sansom to do is to turn down the job. For citizens to regain trust in their government even the appearance of backroom shenanigans needs to be avoided.
In addition to turning down the job offer, he should also explain why NFSC received the funding over other schools that might have needed it more. It’s too early to accuse Sansom of any wrong-doing, but it’s exactly the right time for him to be open and transparent about what is happening in our state government.
The Times' gift buying guide won't be published until Sunday. But in honor of Black Friday's rush of breakneck shopping buys, here's an early peek at my three picks for cool TV-related gifts to consider for the holiday season.
And if Santa were to drop one of these off at the office of your friendly neighborhood TV critic, well, that would really be a Christmas Miracle.
MOTO Z6c World Edition
Price: $319. What better gift for a TV critic than a phone with a television inside? Push up the front plate slider to open this sleek Motorola phone, and you can click over to access a range of TV shows, from old Star Trek reruns to the latest Daily Show, streamed right to your phone in startlingly clear color. You do have to buy the V Cast mobile TV package and Verizon only provides access to one or two shows each from about 16 channels at a time. But the lineup changes regularly, providing no better way to while away a stretch in the bank teller line or dentist’s office.
Allio HD TV/PC
Price: $1,599. Used to be, the biggest problem with TV-packed streaming Web sites such as Hulu and Joost is you had to watch your Heroes reruns and Office webisodes sitting at your home PC. No more. The Allio pulls together everything you need in a smart TV – a Blu-ray DVD player, a digital video recorder and a PC with 250 GB of storage. Miss your favorite Knight Rider episode, and a few remote clicks takes you to Hulu for a quick catch up on a 32-inch screen. Just imagine how that YouTube Mentos video will look on a real TV set, and you’re getting why this makes my knees weak.
SlingCatcher
Price: $299. If the Allio sounds too pricey, the SlingCatcher offers a cheaper way to see video on the Internet on your home TV. Plug in this device, and you can “sling” the display from your PC screen to your home TV. Ports in the device also allow you connect any digital media storage device like a memory stick or portable hard drive, and play files there on your TV. And if you have any other TVs in your home connected to the SlingBox -- a device allowing you to view your home TV’s output over the Internet – you can control them with the SlingCatcher too. Even if they’re on the other side of the country.
A little tradition back at Stuck in the '80s headquarters, from which I'm absent today. Here's one for the gang at work. Enjoy your Friday morning dance dedication...
