09 August

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Do Heroin Charges Carry Bigger Challenges Compared to Other Drugs?

Maybe. But fighting heroin charges definitely doesn’t make a criminal case any easier. Your first impression of the drug is only partly to blame. The rest is hidden underneath. The reasons some people begin abusing controlled substances can get lengthy. When it comes to using heroin it’s no different. For some reason, however, the courts have always placed a special stigma on heroin drug charges. When facing any kind of drug offenses there are several critical issues that could determine the outcome of the case (jail versus rehab, sales versus possession counts, to name a few). When it comes to heroin, there...

09 July

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Anti-Drug Advocates Furious Over Miley Cyrus Video

Posted by Bart Kaspero

in Uncategorized

In collaboration with Moby and The Flaming Lips, Miley Cyrus has caught heat over her recent video depicting her of foaming at the mouth while laying on a bed surrounded by pills. Advocates are up in arms about Cyrus' depiction of a drug overdose in light of her hospitalization for falling ill to an allergic reaction to medication. Whether the project was intended to spur debate or draw awareness to something the general public does not yet understand remains to be seen. However, most criticism comes from those concerned over the impression s made on younger fans of the pop star....

09 July

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Angelina Jolie’s Alleged Drug Video

Posted by Bart Kaspero

in Uncategorized

It’s disappointing to hear when someone from our past gets a laugh at our expense—especially when all the evidence that could exonerate us is too far gone to present a defense. This is why it’s constitutionally unfair to bring charges against someone after too much time has passed. This is what has happened to world-renowned and local Southern California saint Angelina Jolie. A man who claims to be her ex-drug dealer released a 17-minute video of Jolie frantically talking on the telephone. That’s it? Yes, that’s all. To me, it looked like a make-shift improvisation to...

08 July

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Laguna Niguel Outrage Over Elementary Drug Program

Posted by Bart Kaspero

in Uncategorized

A handful of parents whose 5th-graders attended Laguna Niguel Elementary school's drug awareness program are angered by a short YouTube video showing youngsters smoking salvia. According to some of the parents, there was no opt-out option to take their children out of the program--saying that if there was, they would have exercised their option to do so. Orange County Sheriff's Department were aiming to educate the students on the dangers of smoking substances such as salvia and to show how it affects users by way of how the video depicted the kids reacting to the drug. The...

08 July

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Drug Possession Charged as Sales: How Much is Too Much?

Posted by Bart Kaspero

in Drug Sales

One thing that is all-too-common in drug crimes is the possession case that is charged as a sales case. Many clients are outraged and terrified to learn they are being accused of being a "Drug Dealer" when they have only engaged in personal uses of a controlled substance. There are a few reasons why these cases end up being charged as "sales cases" and many clients seem to experience at least one of these patterns. Amount: More Than One Would Normally "Use" On Their Own Taking a look at the elements of Possession for Sales charge, you will not find any reference to...

17 June

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The Trial of Susan B. Anthony

Posted by Bart Kaspero

in Uncategorized

The story of an American Hero - Tried as a Criminal Many people in our have mixed feelings about our criminal justice system—in particular, trials by jury. Some feel that people beat charges on technicalities while others point to innocent defendants that are incarcerated for crimes they never committed. We are hopeful that the worst case scenarios occur infrequently, maybe rarely, as compared to the standard law and order we want to believe in. But there are many reasons why the jury system serves a function in our society beyond guilty or not guilty. The trial of Susan B. Anthony stands as...

17 June

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Medicare Seniors Overprescribed Painkillers

Posted by Bart Kaspero

in Uncategorized

Medicare's prescription drug program (known as Part D, under the Medicare comprehensive plan) reveals a rising use, misuse, and overprescription of common painkiller (opiodes) and anti-anxiety medications. To name a few, research show that there has been a steady increase in the prescription of hydrocodone, oxycodone, (which rose up to 50%) and increased dosage rates from one month supplies to three month supplies. Some are alarmed at these rates because they indicate careless prescribing methodologies by physicians who do not regulate and monitor the safety risks posed to seniors on such powerful prescription drugs. Among the most prescribed of the medications are hydrocodone-acetaminophen...

17 June

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DEA Blasted for Stonewalling Marijuana Research

Posted by Bart Kaspero

in Uncategorized

The Drug Policy Alliance and Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) released a comprehensive sixteen page report entitled: “The DEA: Four Decades of Impending and Rejecting Science.” The compilation hinges on a two-part argument based on the last 40 years of legislative and scientific studies. First, the institutes claim the DEA has been refusing to declassify marijuana from the most serious and highest drug classification of Schedule I substances (that that are the most severely addicting and with no medicinal use to the user) without any legitimacy and contradictory authority. Second, the agency has been curtailing research on medicinal marijuana in the form of...

16 June

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The New Vicodin on Steroids

Posted by Bart Kaspero

in Uncategorized

There is a growing fervor over the soon-to-be-released prescription drug Zohydro, which is a powerful new pain killer with pure hydrocodone. Intended to be a “slow-release drug, the pill releases over a twelve hour period. Activists that are fighting pharmaceutical companies and trying to bring pressure on government agencies argue that people who abuse prescription drugs are already expressing excitement about how Zohydro can be manipulated for a more dramatic high. This was the case with other painkiller medications that were made crush proof so that they could no longer be snorted by heavy addicts....

06 June

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Suing the Police

Posted by Bart Kaspero

in Uncategorized

Something went terribly wrong. You were either wrongfully searched, detained, arrested, charged, beaten, handcuffed, tasered, prosecuted, had your privacy invaded, been singled out due to racially motivated misconduct, or have been conspired against to deny your Civil Rights.

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