Drugs were Found in the Hanger that Houses the Space Shuttle Discovery

Shocking news at NASA's hangers in Cape Canaveral, Florida at the Kennedy Space Center! If you can imagine just about anything, you can probably guess that it has been thought of before at NASA. Millions of instruments, thousands of people, and billions of ideas all floating around one place. One thing you may not think could be found at NASA would be illegal drugs; unfortunately, drugs were recently found in the hanger that houses the Space Shuttle Discovery. With a mission planned for March of this year, you have to wonder what is going on around NASA. Is it possible that there are people high on Cocaine working on the space shuttles?

The cocaine was found by a worker in a secure part of the hangar that is accessible by about 200 NASA employees and contractors, said NASA spokesman Allard Beutel. The bag contained a tiny amount of the illegal substance cocaine. “We do not tolerate the use of illegal substances for people who work on the orbiter,” said Robert Cabana, director of the Kennedy Space Center. That is comforting, but, you still have to wonder how cocaine could find its way into probably one of the most secure facilities in the world. NASA has and is drug testing and interviewing workers, as well as using drug-sniffing dogs to make sure that there are no other drugs that were "misplaced" by an employee. "Mr. Beutel said there was no problem with any of the Discovery’s hardware, nor was there any indication that any employees were under the influence while working in the facility", reported the Telegraph.

It is a fact of life that illegal drugs end up traveling with addicts to many jobs around the planet. Unfortunately, work is no deterrent when you are in the grips of your addiction; addicts have to get high on the job if they're going to make it through the work day without getting sick. When NASA identifies the source of the cocaine, I am confident that they NASA will suggest that the person(s) seek help and enter into treatment.

GBL and BZP, 'Legal High' Drugs Banned in Britain This Morning!

GBL and BZP, the 'legal high' drugs were banned in Britain this morning! This is a big step in the battle against new potentially lethal designer drugs that have stayed under the radar from the food and drug officials. The chemical solvent GBL (gamma-butyrolactone). or 'coma in a bottle', is a regular drug of many people who frequent night clubs. BZP (N-benzylpiperazine), which has been illegal in the United States since 2004, is a stimulant which has similar effects to amphetamines. Also added to the list are herbal smoking products containing man-made chemicals such as "Spice", which are commonly found in head shops. The illegal classification of these drugs will hopefully prevent anymore overdoses; drugs like GBL are particularly hard to dose making it very easy for something bad to happen. Typically these drugs are mixed with alcohol which intensifies the high; according to the AFP, "long-standing concerns about the health risks of the drugs, particularly when taken with alcohol, hit the headlines in April after 21-year-old medical student Hester Stewart died after taking GBL".

Hester Stewart's mother campaigned across Great Britain to get a ban on drugs like GBL. Young adults who find themselves taking these drugs are not informed, they are not aware of the potential threats because these drugs were legal - how bad could they be! The banning of GBL and BZP will be the umbrella that all other drugs like these stand under, this will keep the manufacturers of these drugs from altering the formula slightly and skirting the law. Great Britain also put a ban on 15 different anabolic steroids that are popular amongst athletes.

Unfortunately, as we mentioned in a previous post regarding this subject, there are still many countries around the world where drugs like these are not banned and are still being abused regularly. So called 'Legal Highs' are a serious threat to teenagers and young adults, more people will inevitably overdose from GBL which makes education of the utmost importance.

California and Mexico are Testing Grounds for Revolutionary Ideas Regarding Drugs

A shift can be seen in mindsets around the world regarding illegal drugs! As the world nears the end of the first decade of our new millennium, poverty stricken and facing a drug pandemic, a lot of changes in policy and in the way people look at things are happening. California and Mexico are testing grounds for revolutionary ideas regarding drugs, both republics want change despite the fact that it may fail and come back to hurt them in the end. California is on the brink of legalizing Marijuana and Mexico just legalized small amounts of essentially any drug for personal use. It seems as if these two Republics are willing to try anything to counter their ongoing struggles, i.e. California's budget crisis and Mexico's drug war. I neither condemn nor condone their attempts at trying revolutionary tactics in order to enact change. Something had to give, old ideas and mentalities are not cutting it, and so drastic measures appear to be in order.

All of this change may appear to be surrender on Mexico's part and a form of cynicism on California's, which may be the case; however, there may be room for success with regards to legalization issues and these changes could possibly do more good than harm. It has been clear for a very long time that prison does very little, if any, to help the addict and if anything it only slows the addict's progression but does nothing to curb the disease. Without proper education by way of drug treatment people who have had drug convictions stand very little chance of not returning to the drugs upon release. In Mexico, under previous laws, possession could lead to long jail terms. Mexico now views drug abuse as a "social and public-health problem rather than a law-enforcement issue", which will open up space in prisons and leave available resources to pursue the drug cartels - according to Mexican officials. According to government statistics, the number of addicts in Mexico has risen by more than 50 percent in six years; Mexico who has supplied the United States with drugs for a long time is just now seeing their own domestic drug problem and treatment seems to be more effective than prison.

In the California arena the problem crisis at hand has more to do with the budget and Assemblyman Tom Ammiano proposes full legalization of marijuana with regulation and taxation. A proposed tax of $50 per ounce is estimated to raise $1.3 billion annually. "According to one poll, 56 percent of California voters support such a plan. There also are three initiative efforts in California to put marijuana-legalization measures before voters in November 2010.", reports the Arizona Republic. People will smoke marijuana regardless of the fact that it is illegal, that being said, perhaps the argument for legalization is sound.

It is impossible to predict the direction all this new legislation will take us. Certainly, both Mexico and California are sailing into uncharted waters with failure lurking on the horizon. Drastic times call for drastic measures, time will tell if this shift in policy will be the lesser of two evils. Mexico needs to lower the murder rate and California needs to boost the economy, it will be interesting to see the results of their efforts. A lot of questions and very few answers at this point!