Session 22 July 2010

bjorn said:
[quote author=drygol]I just started to worry about my doggies , This creepy thing came to my head that when people start to be hungry , they might start fighting for food and hunt anything that lives including dogs. I gotta figure it out somehow.

During the war a friend of my grandpa killed his dog and served it for dinner, there where many incidents like this. If you look at times where there are food shortages, Animals are hunted down, including pets. Understand this: This system, as it my appear very stable it actually really isn’t. You may think that food is around every corner. But if those aren’t resupplied in like 2 days. There won’t be any food anymore.

Next to that: I wouldn't only focus on your dogs, what about you? Are you tasty? I mean cannibalism happens, especially during times what may be in front of us. Not something I wanna think about, but.. knowledge protects.
[/quote]

I would just like to say that; if ever a time comes when I am faced with a situation where the only way to survive would be to eat man's best friend or even a fellow human being... That wouldn't be living. When it comes down to sacrifices like that, it just isn't worth it at all. The point of it all, for me, would be gone.

I wouldn't want to become something like that, ever.
 
Galaxia said:
I would just like to say that; if ever a time comes when I am faced with a situation where the only way to survive would be to eat man's best friend or even a fellow human being... That wouldn't be living. When it comes down to sacrifices like that, it just isn't worth it at all. The point of it all, for me, would be gone.

I wouldn't want to become something like that, ever.

This is actually explored in some detail in The Road, which gives a starkly realistic portrayal of exactly this kind of dilemma, FWIW. The protagonist feels the same way that you do, Galaxia (I do too, for that matter), and in the end dies because of complications stemming from starvation.
 
Thanks for this session. The question about bringing up children has been on my mind for some time.

What the C's are saying is quite close to what I recall from the books of Alan Kardec. In one of the books there are souls/people who have gone to the other side and some of them come to tell through the mediums and groups that Kardec collected information from, that a disciplined childhood is better for the development of the future life, and several of them regret that discipline was absent in their own lives which led them to loose track of the ideals for which they took birth.

We have more and more of a concept of bringing up children from the C's and others but I think we still need to link this up with research and current theories, because without that it is kind of difficult to write an academic essay and try to gain support for a point of view that is illegal in some countries, including where I live at present.

There are many theories in the field of social sciences, what is often not always considered is that these theories typically are based on a set of underlying theories of knowledge. For example follows the idea that we are born with a blank slate from the philosophy of empiricism. See _http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empiricism

Besides empiricism there are other theories of knowledge and some of them come closer to what the C's are saying and what our research confirms.
 
Thank you Mrs. Jadczyk and crew for posting this session. Also many thanks to the Cassiopean group, such as Rochiana, Oirella, Nilennioa,etc. Their devotion to the Human race is sincerely appreciated. In reading this post as with many others, it becomes quite obvious of all the "Hits" , along with the hints given that the Cass.Forum is real and beneficial to mankind..I think that this is one of the reasons that it is going to be hard to find people that in this day and age of "dumbing down" ,are going to believe what is presented to them. I'm sure that the Powers to be will want to stop this as time is running out. ...Lets hope that with the Psychopathic mistakes that will be made , the predicted "Removal of the Vail" will be accomplished. Souls will be drawn to the Forum, just as they were drawn to Catholicism, Protestantism, Islam and various other religions in times past. Call it "Karma" or what you may, but that is Human Nature. Back in the 50s, 60s, and 70s, it was very obvious that the Permissive society, the dumbing down of the school system, along with the Hippie generation , Liberalism in general and the Dr Spock innovations, that America would be on the downwood trend. Not only here but in Europe, Australia, and the Pacific. Teachers trained in the 50s , then their students teaching in the 60s, and on and on. The STS entity's had a field day with this country and it spilled over to the others. Like wild fire it took off. I always felt that as long as there was a place to run and people were well fed, things will go on as usual. As the Casseopeons well knew all along, it had to stop sometime. Pray that eyes will open and good people will finally get off their butts because there's nowhere to go anymore. I have lived my life and been through many happenings both on the East and West coast of America, perhaps seeing an awakening....sure hope so. just starting the EE prog.--any hints, it will be appreciated.
 
Next to that: I wouldn't only focus on your dogs, what about you? Are you tasty? I mean cannibalism happens, especially during times what may be in front of us. Not something I wanna think about, but.. knowledge protects.

I am not so worried about myself but idea of dogs being eaten is just so horrid :/
Thing is that I can speak for myself and it would be easier for me to get out of a situation like this ... but animals cannot.

I would just like to say that; if ever a time comes when I am faced with a situation where the only way to survive would be to eat man's best friend or even a fellow human being... That wouldn't be living. When it comes down to sacrifices like that, it just isn't worth it at all. The point of it all, for me, would be gone.

I wouldn't want to become something like that, ever.

Same here , I would rather die of no eating.

Also I was thinking that problem is way bigger because even If community around me manages to create food and prepare for hard time , it will be attacked by those who were not prepared. So apart from food shortage there might be a defense problem too. Creepy situation I must say but there has to be a solution for that so it is just a matter of knowledge again :)

ps. I am not tasty :D If someone wanted to eat me , well I wish him good luck with toxic digestion LOL :D
 
Drygol, throughout time and memorial, there has been wars and uprisings where people intirely innocent had to do without food, clean water,or the necessity's of life. People starved in WW1, WW2, etc.,and tried to hoard food and other products thinking that it will never be found by an ever increasing mob of unbelievably hungry people. You will have to protect your food, family,and all you love in any way possible... That is why the powers to be want to take away all rights to protect yourself with the US second amendment rights of arms ownership... All Psychopaths (STS mentality) are afraid of strong opposition and want complete control of money, food and water...I pray that all will never be hungry, but when it comes to starvation, people will eat things that were never thought of...I think that the main thing that is going to happen in the near future will be your being able to weather the storm, and you can do this by standing firm in family togetherness, along with participation in the Forum question and answer sessions....KNOWLEGE PROTECTS....always keep this in mind
 
Roger said:
Drygol, throughout time and memorial, there has been wars and uprisings where people intirely innocent had to do without food, clean water,or the necessity's of life. People starved in WW1, WW2, etc.,and tried to hoard food and other products thinking that it will never be found by an ever increasing mob of unbelievably hungry people. You will have to protect your food, family,and all you love in any way possible... That is why the powers to be want to take away all rights to protect yourself with the US second amendment rights of arms ownership... All Psychopaths (STS mentality) are afraid of strong opposition and want complete control of money, food and water...I pray that all will never be hungry, but when it comes to starvation, people will eat things that were never thought of...I think that the main thing that is going to happen in the near future will be your being able to weather the storm, and you can do this by standing firm in family togetherness, along with participation in the Forum question and answer sessions....KNOWLEGE PROTECTS....always keep this in mind

Being cold, naked, hungry, and powerless to protect anything or anyone you love may be for some the only way through, and break the addiction to physicality, OSIT.
Not predator or prey, only realizing the only way through this mess is to learn some really hard lessons, make some really hard choices, and just try to serve others. Starvation, exposure, and helplessness can be powerful lessons most avoid at all costs...however, some cultures have used these experiences as tools to teach, and to See.
 
(L) Speaking of psychopaths... What about S****?

A: Like we just said... {laughter} People are catching on. But remember that his kind tend to shoot themselves in the foot.

Q: (Perceval) Does he know that he's a psychopath?

A: No. Do any?

Q: (L) Well, there are some who say they know that they are a psychopath.

A: They don't really believe it. It is just another ploy.

Q: (L) So those people that some psychologists report, and they say, "I've got a psychopath, he knows he's a psychopath. He has sadness on his face when he tells me, 'I know there are feelings that I can never feel'", that that's just horse hockey and they're just pulling the psychologist’s leg again?

A: Yes.

Q: (L) Okay. So what other questions do we have jotted down?

(Ailén) What's with all the recurrent mentions of pedophilia coming out lately? We had the lady from this association that helps abused children contact us, we had Corruption of Silence brought to our attention, we had Burma Jones's research on the people named King involved in pedophilia, we had a few little coincidences and people thinking about it out of the blue. That very same day, there was also the episode of Midsomer Murders that involved pedophilia.

A: It is emerging into awareness.

Q: (Ailén) As in global awareness. (L) Well, what about the name King being associated with it? (Burma Jones) Yeah, why are there so many Kings that seem to be involved?

A: Notice that there are other clusters of names. You just stumbled on one.

Q: (Burma Jones) So, is there a familial relationship between Leslie Lynch King and Lawrence E. King of Omaha, Nebraska? (L) Who's Leslie Lynch King? (Burma Jones) Gerald Ford. (L) Oh.

A: Far back.

Q: (Burma Jones) Oh, okay. So, it's mostly coincidence that there were two Kings from Omaha that were...?

A: Yes.

Q: (L) I bet you could find more like that. (Burma Jones) So, was there then a relation between Lawrence King of Omaha, Nebraska and this kid who was killed in southern California who had the same name for his sexual deviance?

A: No.

Q: (Burma Jones) So, just name clusters... Those other clusters of names. Do names cluster around things like pedophilia because of targeted genetics, or is it just some kind of symbolic...

A: Yes.

Q: (Burma Jones) And where the ones who were targeted, were they maybe the ones who had a chance of helping the world so they're targeted to make sure they're destroyed when they're children?

A: In some cases.

Q: (L) Alright, what else? There's one question I'd like to ask. There was a discussion on the forum the other day about spanking. And it is my contention that there are some situations where that is the only thing to do, but that it should be very rare. I mean, special situations. Maybe I myself did not follow that model, but there were some instances where that was the only solution. Am I just self-justifying? (Ark) For me it was good. Otherwise probably I would become a criminal. {laughter}

(Andromeda) What if a child is gonna go play in the traffic? Is he gonna take you seriously? I mean, for their protection they need that.

(Ark) I was playing on the railways, and my mother came and saw me and she grabbed my ear and pulled me back home. For a week I couldn't touch my ear!

(Andromeda) That might have saved your life.

(L) Did it keep you off the railroad tracks?

(Ark) Oh yeah.

(L) Would anything else have worked?
p
(Ark) Um...

(L) If she had told you it was bad to play on the railroad tracks, would you have listened?

(Ark) I knew it!

(L) So it was the fear of consequences that prevented you.

(Ark) You just don't think about it.

(L) So, you think that spanking makes you think about things?

(PoB) It makes you remember.

(Ark) Spanking made me pass a history exam. Otherwise it was another year in the same class.

(L) Alright, so let me ask my question again: Is...

A: Let us ask you: Are there situations in life where asserting yourself physically is appropriate?

Q: (L) Well I would have to say yes. (Andromeda) Definitely. (L) In a world populated by psychopaths, crazy people, bullies, and behaviors that are hurtful and harmful to you and people that you love...

Now i understand....With the United States being the sts capital of the world, and in the process of daily disintegration. There are those that fit the above profile, and will be like a suit, as if tailored to fit the exact genetic code required, for the dress rehearsal. "They" are amassing there forces, having prepared element's in the population for there invasion. Just check any local paper go to any crime section and look at the elements photographs and there eyes are empty,and their mind filled with street black market cocktails. It is estimated that United States is consuming 40 percent of the drug cartels product's. Its as if there "they" are making sure that they live nothing to chance. Meth was the preferred drug of choice given and taken to German troops in WW2...as a way to control the hearts, minds, and souls. Making them ruthless killing machines....Go to any newspaper in the states, check the crime section, look at the faces associated to crimes committed. What you will find is the empty and void, looking like a shell. I have come to understand that the crime wave at the borders is out of control and is at a pace that is genocidal. Every large city as well as small town is seeing endless unemployment. This that breeds discontent and hope lost to those effected by sociopolitical pressures. The U.S. is experiencing a tremendous upheaval of murder, assault, rapes, robberies, and attempted abduction's and abduction of children. Level 3 sex offenders are being reintroduced in to the mainstream population to continue there crime sprees on innocent children, and terrorizing the general population. Paroles that have committed heinous crime's, go on to continue where they left off. Having learned even more of the trade of being life long criminal as to being rehabilitate, in most cases. And lastly is the city municipalities that are and being down sized in every capacity from police response's, to fire emergency, to investigative. As well as there salaries, and benefit's, effecting moral. Also couple that with the syndrome of PDSD as having to run volume of calls around the clock 24/7. This is a criminal's playground, or Psychopathy 101.

http://projects.latimes.com/mexico-drug-war/#/mulmedia-gallery/83

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EFzflSxWPA&feature=youtu.be
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methaphetamine
Second World War
One of the earliest uses of methamphetamine was during World War II, when it was used by Axis and Allied forces.[7] The German military dispensed it under the trade name Pervitin. It was widely distributed across rank and division, from elite forces to tank crews and aircraft personnel, with many millions of tablets being distributed throughout the war.[8] From 1942 until his death in 1945, Adolf Hitler may have been given intravenous injections of methamphetamine by his personal physician Theodor Morell. It is possible that it was used to treat Hitler's speculated Parkinson's disease, or that his Parkinson-like symptoms that developed from 1940 onwards resulted from using methamphetamine.[9]

In Japan, methamphetamine was sold under the registered trademark of Philopon (ヒロポン, hiropon?) by Dainippon Sumitomo Pharma for civilian and military use. Similar to the situation in the rest of the world, the side effects of methamphetamine were not well studied, and regulation was not seen as necessary.


[edit] Post-war use
After World War II, a large Japanese military stockpile of methamphetamine, known by its trademark Philopon, flooded the market.[10] The Japanese Ministry of Health banned it in 1951; since then, it has been increasingly produced by the Yakuza criminal organization.[11] On the streets, it is also known as S, Shabu, and Speed, in addition to its old trademarked name.

In the 1950s, there was a rise in the legal prescription of methamphetamine to the American public. In the 1954 edition of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, indications for methamphetamine included "narcolepsy, postencephalitic parkinsonism, alcoholism, certain depressive states, and in the treatment of obesity."[12]

The 1960s saw the start of significant use of clandestinely manufactured methamphetamine as well as methamphetamine created in users' own homes for personal use. The recreational use of methamphetamine continues to this day.


Production and distribution
Until the early 1990s, methamphetamine for the U.S. market was made mostly in labs run by drug traffickers in Mexico and California. Since then, authorities[which?] have discovered increasing numbers of small-scale methamphetamine labs all over the United States, mostly in rural, suburban, or low-income areas.[citation needed] Indiana state police found 1,260 labs in 2003, compared to just 6 in 1995, although this may be partly a result of increased police activity.[73] As of 2007, drug and lab seizure data suggests that approximately 80 percent of the methamphetamine used in the United States originates from larger laboratories operated by Mexican-based syndicates on both sides of the border and that approximately 20 percent comes from small toxic labs (STLs) in the United States.[74]

Mobile and motel-based methamphetamine labs have caught the attention of both the U.S. news media and the police. Such labs can cause explosions and fires and expose the public to hazardous chemicals. Those who manufacture methamphetamine are often harmed by toxic gases. Many police departments have specialized task forces with training to respond to cases of methamphetamine production. The National Drug Threat Assessment 2006, produced by the Department of Justice, found "decreased domestic methamphetamine production in both small and large-scale laboratories", but also that "decreases in domestic methamphetamine production have been offset by increased production in Mexico." They concluded that "methamphetamine availability is not likely to decline in the near term."[75]

In July 2007, Mexican officials at the port of Lázaro Cárdenas seized a ship carrying 19 tons of pseudoephedrine, a raw material needed for methamphetamine.[76] The shipment originated in Hong Kong and passed through the United States at the port of Long Beach prior to its arrival in Mexico.

Methamphetamine is distributed by prison gangs, outlaw motorcycle gangs, street gangs, traditional organized crime operations, and impromptu small networks.[citation needed] In the United States, illicit methamphetamine comes in a variety of forms with prices varying widely over time.[77] Most commonly, it is found as a colorless crystalline solid. Impurities may result in a brownish or tan color. Colorful flavored pills containing methamphetamine and caffeine are known as yaa baa (Thai for "crazy medicine").

An impure form of methamphetamine is sold as a crumbly brown or off-white rock, commonly referred to as "peanut butter crank".[78] Methamphetamine found on the street is rarely pure, but adulterated with chemicals that were used to synthesize it.[citation needed] It may be diluted or cut with non-psychoactive substances like inositol, isopropylbenzylamine or dimethylsulfone. Another popular method is to combine methamphetamine with other stimulant substances such as caffeine or cathine into a pill known as a "Kamikaze", which can be particularly dangerous due to the synergistic effects of multiple stimulants. It may also be flavored with high-sugar candies, drinks, or drink mixes to mask the bitter taste of the drug. Coloring may be added to the meth, as is the case with "Strawberry Quick".[79][80]

http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coca%C3%Afne

Cocaine
The cocaine is alkaloid extracted from coca. Strong stimulating of CNSS he is also a vaso constrictor device . In West It is classified as narcotic.

Historical
The coca is used, empirically , very long time by the Indians Andes who chew the leaves of coca or consumed as a tea to help them withstand fatigue and altitude .

A specimen was brought to Europe by Jussieu in 1750.

In 1855The chemist German Friedrich Gaedcke crystals obtained by reducing coca leaves , he named this substance erythroxyline.[2]


In 1859The traveler Carl Scherzer relates to Vienna coca leaves , at the request of the chemist German Friedrich Wöhler who says the study to one of his students Austrian, Albert Niemann[2]. The following year , Niemann isolates the active ingredient of coca leaves and he describes the anesthetic[3]. He died shortly after and is one of his colleagues, Wilhelm LossenWhich, 1865Determines the chemical formula of the substance , proving he is indeed a alkaloid[2]. But we must wait 1879 for the physiologist Vassily von Anrep to determine, on an animal model , the psychoactive properties[2].

Between the discovery of Niemann and the development of the first derivative of synthesis, Stovaïne of Furnace (1904) and Novocaine of Einhorn ( 1906 ), cocaine , widely used in ophthalmology Is practically the only anesthetic available to surgeons .


The early 1960 Consumption becomes worrisome[3] to explode at the end 1970 making fortune Cartel.[2]

Several conventions are held under the auspices of the UN to combat it . These agreements prohibit the production , trade , possession and use of drugs ( except for medical purposes) and have directly influenced the legislation of signatory countries. The Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 focuses on coca, the opium The cannabis and their derivatives. The cocaine will be gradually banned in most countries as they adapt their own legislation and classified as narcotic.

In Western countries , during much of 1980 and 1990Cocaine is associated with the upper classes , including the media, politics , film and song that consume the purpose of Doping. But the exponential increase in its production - despite various global campaigns to fight against this drug - helps to bring down the resale price at the dose and cocaine is consumed in all sectors since the early 2000s.[3]

Long-term effects

Eaten regularly , cocaine can cause : contraction of most blood vessels[3]The tissues, poorly irrigated, become necrotic. This is often the case with the septum piercing damage up to necrosis of the nasal wall in treasuring regular cocaine users ;
cardiac rhythm disturbances that can cause cardiac[3];
mood disorders : irritability, paranoia, Panic attack , depression[3];
Nervous system disorders : panic , feelings of persecution , violent attacks of paranoia and hallucinations .
increased mental activity[3]: The insomnia, Of amnesia, Difficulty concentrating , nervous tics , etc. . ;
a dependence Quick and strong psychological[3]. An estimated 20 % of users become addicted .[2] The cocaine is sometimes reversible but even after a complete cessation of consumption , it takes 12 to 18 months without relapse to be considered " cured " .[8]
The tolerance concerns only certain effects including euphoria and is highly related to individual sensitivities .[2]

Syndrome weaning has been formalized in 1987 and its physical manifestations are not always observable.[2]

Statistical [change]

Use Assessment
According to the report of the INCB of 1st March 2006, Cocaine is the second largest Drugs whose use is most prevalent in North America. It is estimated that U.S. alone account for 2.3 million users.

Rated output
From 900-1 000 tonnes of cocaine are produced every year .[10]

The Colombia has long been the leading producer of cocaine , worth it -only 776 tons year (2005 data. [Citation needed ]) , but in 2009 , the UN statistics indicate the Peru produces 45.4% of all cocaine produced in the world followed by Colombia with 39.3 % and Bolivia with 15.3 % of total[11].

Evaluation of traffic
According to a report of the Central Office for the Suppression of Illicit Traffic in Narcotic (OCRTIS) Of 18 October 2006, seizures of cocaine in 2005 (5 tons) Are up 16% compared to 2004, which was already a record .[10]

The American market receives 600 900 1 000 tonnes annually .[10]

In Europe, 2005The cost of cocaine is about 26 000-28 000 kg ( or 26-28 euros per gram)

Cocaine and the global economy.

A study published in August 2009 the United States shows that 90 % banknotes in circulation in American cities contain traces of cocaine .[13] This does not mean that 90 % of the population consumes . Another study showed that if there were as many ballots marked by this substance , this was due to transfer to other posts during the counting mechanical , micro - grains of cocaine found on banknotes used snuff .

Drug Trafficking in the United States

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The illegal drug market in the United States is one of the most profitable in the world. As such, it attracts the most ruthless, sophisticated, and aggressive drug traffickers. Drug law enforcement agencies face an enormous challenge in protecting the country's borders. Each year, according to the U.S. Customs Service, 60 million people enter the United States on more than 675,000 commercial and private flights. Another 6 million come by sea and 370 million by land. In addition, 116 million vehicles cross the land borders with Canada and Mexico. More than 90,000 merchant and passenger ships dock at U.S. ports. These ships carry more than 9 million shipping containers and 400 million tons of cargo. Another 157,000 smaller vessels visit our many coastal towns. Amid this voluminous trade, drug traffickers conceal cocaine, heroin, marijuana, MDMA, and methamphetamine shipments for distribution in U.S. neighborhoods.

Diverse groups traffic and distribute illegal drugs. Criminal groups operating from South America smuggle cocaine and heroin into the United States via a variety of routes, including land routes through Mexico, maritime routes along Mexico's east and west coasts, sea routes through the Caribbean, and international air corridors. Furthermore, criminal groups operating from neighboring Mexico smuggle cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, amphetamine, and marijuana into the United States. These criminal groups have smuggled heroin and marijuana across the Southwest Border and distributed them throughout the United States since the 1970s. In addition to distributing cocaine and methamphetamine in the West and Midwest, these Mexico-based groups now are attempting to expand the distribution of those drugs into eastern U.S. markets.

Likewise, the use of the drug 3, 4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), also known on the street as "Ecstasy," has increased at an alarming rate in the United States over the last several years. Israeli and Russian drug trafficking syndicates and Western Europe-based drug traffickers are the principal traffickers of MDMA worldwide. MDMA, primarily manufactured clandestinely in Western Europe, is smuggled into the United States by couriers via commercial airlines, as well as through the use of express package carriers. Finally, criminal groups based in Southeast and Southwest Asia smuggle heroin into the United States. Using New York City as a major distribution hub, these criminal groups move heroin up and down the eastern seaboard and into the Midwest.

Besides these criminal groups based abroad, domestic organizations cultivate, produce, manufacture, or distribute illegal drugs such as marijuana, methamphetamine, phencyclidine (PCP), and lysergic acid diethyamide (LSD). By growing high-potency sinsemilla, domestic cannabis growers provide marijuana that easily competes with other illegal drugs. With demand for methamphetamine remaining high, especially in the West and Midwest, so, too, does the number of illicit laboratories that supply methamphetamine to a growing number of addicts. Additionally, a small number of chemists manufacture LSD that is subsequently distributed primarily to high school and college students throughout the United States.

COCAINE

Cocaine trafficking and abuse continue to threaten the health and safety of American citizens. According to drug abuse indicators, the use of both powder and crack cocaine have stabilized, albeit at high levels. The trafficking, distribution, and abuse of cocaine and crack cocaine have spread from urban environments to smaller cities and suburban areas of the country, bringing a commensurate increase in violence and criminal activity. The level of violence associated with cocaine trafficking today, however, does not compare to the rampant violence of the 1980s when the crack epidemic was at its worst.

Trafficking by Colombian and Mexican Organizations

The U.S./Mexico border is the primary point of entry for cocaine shipments being smuggled into the United States. According to a recent interagency intelligence assessment, approximately 65 percent of the cocaine smuggled into the United States crosses the Southwest border. Cocaine is readily available in nearly all major cities in the United States. Organized crime groups operating in Colombia control the worldwide supply of cocaine. These organizations use a sophisticated infrastructure to move cocaine by land, sea, and air into the United States. In the United States, these Colombia-based groups operate cocaine distribution and drug money laundering networks comprising a vast infrastructure of multiple cells functioning in many major metropolitan areas. Each cell performs a specific function within the organization, e.g., transportation, local distribution, or money movement. Key managers in Colombia continue to oversee the overall operation.

Over the past decade, the Colombia-based drug groups have allowed Mexico-based trafficking organizations to play an increasing role in the U.S. cocaine trade. Throughout most of the 1980s, the criminals in Colombia used the drug smugglers in Mexico to transport cocaine shipments across the Southwest border into the United States. After successfully smuggling the drugs across the border, the Mexican transporters transferred the drugs back to the Colombian groups operating in the United States. However, the seizure of nearly 21 metric tons of cocaine in 1989 led to a new arrangement between transportation organizations operating from Mexico and the organized crime groups operating from Colombia. This new arrangement radically changed the role and sphere of influence of the Mexico-based trafficking organizations in the U.S. cocaine trade. By the mid-1990s, Mexico-based transportation groups were receiving up to half the cocaine shipment they smuggled for the Colombia-based groups in exchange for their services. Both sides realized that this strategy eliminated the vulnerabilities and complex logistics associated with large cash transactions. The Colombia-based groups also realized that relinquishing part of each cocaine shipment to their associates operating from Mexico ceded a share of the wholesale cocaine market in the United States.

Today, traffickers operating from Colombia continue to control wholesale-level cocaine distribution throughout the heavily populated northeastern United States and along the eastern seaboard in cities such as Boston, Miami, Newark, New York, and Philadelphia. There are indications, however, that other drug trafficking organizations are playing a larger role in the distribution of cocaine in conjunction with the Colombian organizations. Dominican drug trafficking organizations have traditionally been responsible for the street-level distribution of cocaine. The DEA Philadelphia Field Division reports that the primary sources of supply for cocaine in the city are Colombian and Dominican organizations, which are capable of moving multikilogram quantities. The DEA Boston Field Division reports that Dominican traffickers are expanding their roles in cocaine distribution, and have been instrumental in obtaining multikilogram quantities of cocaine for distribution in New England. In New York City, Colombian, Dominican, and Mexican drug trafficking organizations distribute multikilogram quantities of cocaine. Furthermore, Mexican drug trafficking organizations are increasingly responsible for the transportation of cocaine from the Southwest border to the New York market.

Traffickers operating from Mexico now control wholesale cocaine distribution throughout the western and midwestern United States. Mexico-based trafficking groups in cities such as Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco, and Seattle control the distribution of multiton quantities of cocaine, once dominated by the Colombia-based drug groups. In the early 1990s, when the organized crime groups from Mexico were expanding their roles as cocaine transporters and wholesale-level distributors, most of their U.S.-based command and control operations were in southern California. Today, Chicago is also a key command and control center for their cocaine operations, and Atlanta is increasingly important as a trafficking hub for cocaine movement. Currently, these traffickers control cocaine shipments from the time they are smuggled across the border until they are distributed to markets across the country.

The role of Mexico-based trafficking organizations is continuing to evolve. Recent reports suggest that some major international criminals in Colombia are further distancing themselves from day-to-day wholesale-level cocaine distribution in the United States by turning this task over, at least occasionally, to the organizations operating from Mexico. A likely motivation for this change is the non-retroactive extradition law enacted by the Colombian National Assembly in December 1997. Accordingly, Colombian traffickers now face the prospect of extradition for overt acts committed on or after the date (December 17, 1997) that the extradition amendment went into effect. By distancing themselves from overt acts in the United States, Colombian drug lords hope to minimize the threat that the United States will gather sufficient evidence to support an extradition request. This shift does not mean to suggest that traffickers operating from Colombia will abandon the U.S. cocaine market en masse. Emerging drug lords-who do not face the difficulties in micro-managing operations as do the jailed Cali criminal leaders-have little reason to forego the profits generated by the wholesale U.S. cocaine market.

Colombian drug trafficking organizations increasingly rely upon the eastern Pacific Ocean as a trafficking route to move cocaine to the United States. Law enforcement and intelligence community sources estimate 65 percent of the cocaine shipped to the United States moves through the Central America-Mexico corridor, primarily by vessels operating in the eastern Pacific. Colombian traffickers utilize fishing vessels to transport bulk shipments of cocaine from Colombia to the west coast of Mexico and, to a lesser extent, the Yucatan Peninsula. The cocaine is off-loaded to go-fast vessels for the final shipment to the Mexican coast. The loads are subsequently broken down into smaller quantities to be moved across the Southwest border.

However, cocaine continues to be transported through the Caribbean; Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and Haiti are the predominant transshipment points for Colombian cocaine transiting the Caribbean. Because of lawlessness and deteriorating economic conditions, Haiti is a growing transshipment point for Colombian cocaine destined for eastern U.S. markets. Haitian drug traffickers, utilizing maritime shipments to transport cocaine to South Florida, are becoming a major threat. Law enforcement reporting indicates that Jamaica is an increasingly significant transshipment point for cocaine destined for the United States since it is located midway between South America and the United States. Cocaine is primarily smuggled into Jamaica by maritime methods, and the cocaine transshipped through Jamaica often is destined for the Canadian, European, and U.S. markets. Cocaine destined for the United States is usually smuggled from Jamaica to the Bahamas aboard go-fast boats. The cocaine is subsequently smuggled to the Florida coast using go-fast boats, pleasure craft, and fishing vessels.

Crack Cocaine Trafficking

Crack, the inexpensive, smokable form of cocaine, continues to be distributed and used in most major cities. While cocaine use in the United States has declined over the past decade, the rate of use in recent years has stabilized at high levels. Crack cocaine usage, which initially drove these rates, has similarly stabilized, and shows some indications of declining although it also remains at a high level. Street gangs, such as the Crips and the Bloods, and criminal groups of ethnic Dominicans, Puerto Ricans, and Jamaicans dominate the retail market for crack cocaine nationwide. The directed expansion of these gangs to smaller U.S. cities and rural areas, as well as a growth in street gangs that imitate their urban counterparts, results in an increase in homicides, armed robberies, and assaults as gang members use physical violence to maintain their drug distribution monopolies.

Prices and Purity

Cocaine prices in 2001 remained low and stable, suggesting a steady supply to the United States. Nationwide, wholesale cocaine prices ranged from $12,000 to $35,000 per kilogram. In most major metropolitan areas, however, the price of a kilogram of cocaine ranged from $13,000 to $25,000. Average purity for cocaine at the gram, ounce, and kilogram levels remained stable at high levels. In 2001, the average purity of a kilogram of cocaine was 73 percent. Typically, cocaine HCl is converted into crack cocaine, or "rock," within the United States by the secondary wholesaler or retailer. Crack cocaine is often packaged in vials, glassine bags, and film canisters. The size of a crack rock can vary, but generally ranges from 1/10 to 1/2 gram. Rocks can sell for as low as $3 to as high as $50, but prices generally range from $10 to $20.

Seizures

According to the Federal-wide Drug Seizure System (FDSS), U.S. federal authorities seized over 111 metric tons of cocaine in Calendar Year 2001. This moderate increase over the nearly 107 metric tons seized in 2000 is due in part to an increase in maritime seizures in the Southwest Pacific. Maritime seizures in this region increased by 9 metric tons between CY 2000 and CY 2001. Two of the more notable seizures in the Eastern Pacific corridor in CY 2001 reflect the importance of the region in cocaine movement to the United States. In February 2001, the fishing vessel Forever My Friend was intercepted with over 17 metric tons of cocaine. In May 2001, the fishing vessel Svesda Maru was seized with another 17 metric tons of cocaine on board.

HEROIN

Heroin is readily available in many U.S. cities as evidenced by the unprecedented high level of average retail, or street-level, purity. Criminals in four foreign source areas produce the heroin available in the United States: South America (Colombia), Southeast Asia (principally Burma), Mexico, and Southwest Asia/Middle East (principally Afghanistan). While virtually all heroin produced in Mexico and South America is destined for the U.S. market, each of the four source areas has dominated the U.S. market at some point over the past 30 years. Over the past decade, the United States has experienced a dramatic shift in the heroin market from the domination of Southeast Asian heroin to a dominance of the wholesale and retail markets by South American heroin, especially in the East. In the West, by contrast, "black tar" and, to a lesser extent, brown powdered heroin from Mexico have been, and continue to be, the predominant available form.

The increased availability of high-purity heroin, which can effectively be snorted, has given rise to a new, younger user population. While avoiding the stigma of needle use, this user group is ingesting larger quantities of the drug and, according to drug treatment specialists, progressing more quickly toward addiction.

South American Heroin

The availability of South American (SA) heroin, produced in Colombia, has increased dramatically in the United States since 1993. SA heroin is available in the metropolitan areas of the Northeast and along the East Coast. Independent traffickers typically smuggle SA heroin into the United States via couriers traveling aboard commercial airlines, with each courier usually carrying from 500 grams to 1 kilogram of heroin per trip. These traffickers increased their influence in the lucrative northeastern heroin market, which has the largest demand in the United States, by pursuing an aggressive marketing strategy. They distributed high-quality heroin (of purity frequently above 90 percent), undercut the price of their competition, and used their long-standing, effective drug distribution networks. Investigations also indicate the spread of SA heroin to smaller U.S. cities.

Since the mid-1990s, Colombian heroin traffickers have diversified their methods of operation. Couriers still come into Miami, New York City, San Juan, and other U.S. cities on direct commercial flights from Colombia. Increasingly, however, Colombian traffickers are smuggling heroin from Colombia into the United States through such countries as Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Panama, Mexico, Argentina, and Venezuela.

In response to increased drug law enforcement presence at eastern ports of entry, some SA heroin traffickers have sought alternative routes. They transship heroin through the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport before it reaches its final destination of New York City's LaGuardia Airport. Their couriers often transport heroin impregnated within clothing. Couriers with other destinations also smuggle the drug using this same method of concealment. In January 2002, USCS agents at the Miami International Airport arrested a courier who had arrived from Venezuela with 14 kilograms of heroin-saturated clothing. The following month, 18 kilograms of clothing saturated with heroin were seized in New York. Another increasingly used method is to smuggle heroin by sewing it into clothing. In New York in March 2002, two couriers were arrested at a hotel with approximately 8 to 10 kilograms of heroin sewn into 24 pieces of clothing. Also in New York that month, a married couple, Venezuelan nationals, who had arrived at JFK International Airport on a flight from Caracas, had in their luggage jackets that had a combined total of 6 kilograms of heroin sewn into them.

Colombian heroin traffickers have also used commercial maritime methods to move larger amounts of their drug into the United States. Some of the past maritime heroin shipments have been intermixed with larger shipments of cocaine, and some have been transported via cruise ships. Larger shipments of heroin have also been smuggled via containerized cargo, as evidenced by the May 16, 2001, seizure of 54 kilograms of SA heroin in New York. The heroin, packaged in 1.5 pound bricks, was secreted in false bottoms of 1,400 25-pound boxes of frozen plantains. This seizure represents the largest seizure of SA heroin to date in the United States.

Within the United States, ethnic Dominican criminal groups have played a significant role in retail-level heroin distribution in northeastern markets for at least the past two decades. During the 1990s, Dominican groups secured their role in the heroin trade by selling high-purity SA heroin. Currently, Dominican groups dominate retail heroin markets in northeastern cities such as New York City, Boston, and Philadelphia. New York City is the primary base of operation for ethnic Dominican groups. Colombian distribution networks at the wholesale level deal directly with Dominican trafficking groups responsible for retail sales.

Mexican Heroin

Mexican heroin has been a threat to the United States for decades. It is produced, smuggled, and distributed by polydrug trafficking groups, many of which have been in operation for more than 20 years. Nearly all of the heroin produced in Mexico is destined for distribution in the United States. Organized crime groups operating from Mexico produce, smuggle, and distribute the black tar heroin sold in the western United States. Traditionally, trafficking groups operating from Mexico evaded interdiction efforts by smuggling heroin to the U.S. market as they received orders from customers. By keeping quantities small, traffickers hoped to minimize the risk of losing a significant quantity of heroin in a single seizure. Even large polydrug Mexican organizations, which smuggle multiton quantities of cocaine and marijuana, generally limited smuggling of Mexican heroin into the United States to kilogram and smaller amounts. Nevertheless, trafficking organizations were capable of regularly smuggling significant quantities of heroin into the United States.

Although illegal immigrants and migrant workers frequently smuggle heroin across the U.S./Mexico border in 1- to 3- kilogram amounts for the major trafficking groups, seizures indicate that larger loads are being moved across the border, primarily in privately owned vehicles. Once the heroin reaches the United States, traffickers rely upon well-entrenched polydrug smuggling and distribution networks to deliver their product to the market, principally in the metropolitan areas of the midwestern, southwestern, and western United States with sizable Mexican immigrant populations.

Indicative of larger shipments of Mexican heroin being smuggled into the United States are several seizures that occurred in the Southwest in recent years. Following a traffic stop in April 2002 near Pleasanton, Texas - about 25 miles south of San Antonio - Department of Public Safety troopers seized 34 kilograms of brown powder heroin. The heroin bundles, placed inside metal boxes, were found in all four tires of a pickup truck which was headed for San Antonio. In January 2001, the USCS in Del Rio, Texas, seized 42 kilograms of black tar heroin and in December 2000, they seized 27 kilograms of black tar heroin at the Laredo port of entry. Texas has not been the only border state where large amounts of black tar heroin have been seized. In October 2000, 46 kilograms of black tar heroin were seized in Arizona at the San Luis port of entry. This seizure ranks as one of the largest ever made along the Southwest border.

Although recent DEA cases have involved Mexican black tar heroin trafficking groups east of the Mississippi River, there has been no successful, long-term penetration of the East Coast markets by organizations selling Mexico-produced heroin.

Southeast Asian Heroin

High-purity Southeast Asian (SEA) heroin dominated the market in the United States during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Over the past few years, however, all indicators point to a decrease in SEA heroin available domestically. Significant investigations led to the incarceration in Thailand and extradition to the United States of more than a dozen high-level violators who played key roles in moving SEA heroin shipments to the United States. SEA heroin trafficking links run from independent brokers and shippers in Asia through overseas Chinese criminal populations to ethnic Chinese criminal wholesale distributors in the United States. In the United States, ethnic Chinese criminals rely upon local criminal organizations for the distribution of SEA heroin. Despite the recent decline in the trafficking of SEA heroin in the United States, Chinese criminal groups remain the most sophisticated heroin trafficking organizations in the world.

SEA heroin shipments destined for U.S. markets may transit through China, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, or South Korea. Largely independent U.S.-based ethnic Chinese traffickers control distribution within the United States, principally in the Northeast and along the East Coast. During the late 1990s, Vancouver, British Columbia, emerged as a key operational headquarters for ethnic Chinese criminal elements. These criminal groups were enmeshed with North American gangs of Asian descent in transporting SEA heroin to the United States, mainly to the East Coast. A DEA New York Field Division investigation led to the seizure, in January 2001, of 57 kilograms of SEA heroin from a container ship docked at the port in Elizabeth, New Jersey. The largest seizure of SEA heroin in recent years.

Trafficking groups composed of West African criminals also smuggle SEA heroin to the United States. Nigerian criminals have been most active in U.S. cities and areas with well-established Nigerian populations, such as Atlanta, Baltimore, Houston, Dallas, New York City, Newark, Chicago, and Washington, D.C. Over the past several years, Chicago has become a hub for heroin trafficking controlled by Nigerian criminals who primarily deal in SEA heroin.

Southwest Asian Heroin

While a large portion of Southwest Asian (SWA) heroin is consumed in Western Europe, Pakistan, and Iran, traffickers operating from Middle Eastern locations smuggle SWA heroin to ethnic enclaves in the United States. Criminal groups composed of ethnic Lebanese, Pakistanis, Turks, and Afghans are all involved in supplying the drug to U.S.-based groups for retail distribution. SWA heroin traffickers and wholesale distributors generally have been consistently cautious, rarely conducting heroin business with persons not of Southwest Asian or Middle Eastern ethnicity. Therefore, the ethnic aspect of SWA heroin importation and distribution has made SWA heroin more prevalent in areas with large Southwest Asian populations.

West African traffickers, who primarily smuggled SEA heroin to the United States in the 1990s, now also deal in SWA heroin. In a particularly noteworthy seizure of approximately 24 kilograms of heroin in New York in May 2000, 90 percent of the seized heroin consisted of SWA heroin, and the remaining 10 percent was SEA. While unusual, a shipment containing the two types of heroin is not unexpected. For the last several years, West African traffickers, based in Bangkok who normally deal in SEA heroin, have been sending couriers to Pakistan to buy the cheaper Afghanistan-produced SWA heroin. Heroin in Pakistan is about half the price of SEA heroin in Bangkok where the West Africans pay between $13,000 and $16,000 for a kilogram.

The most recent sizeable seizure of SWA heroin occurred in New York City in September 200l when officers of the city police department confiscated approximately 50 kilograms of the substance. According to the Federal-wide Drug Seizure System, this was one of the largest seizures of powdered heroin in the past five years.

Purity

On the street, heroin purity and price often reflect the drug's availability. High purities and low prices, for example, indicate that heroin supplies are readily available. DEA's Domestic Monitor Program (DMP), a retail heroin purchase program, tracks urban street-level heroin purity and price. The most recent data available show that, in 2000, the nationwide average purity for retail heroin from all sources was 36.8 percent. This number is significantly higher than the average of 7 percent reported two decades ago and higher than the 26 percent recorded in 1991. The significant rise in average purity corresponds to the increased availability of high-purity SA heroin, particularly in the northeastern United States.

Moreover, the DMP indicated that the retail purity of SA heroin was the highest for any source, averaging 48.1 percent in 2000. SWA heroin followed with a 34.6 percent average and Mexican heroin averaged 20.8 percent. Heroin purity at the street level generally remained highest in the northeastern United States, where most of the nation's user population lives. In 2000, Philadelphia recorded the DMP's highest heroin purity average of 74.0 percent. Over the last several years, Philadelphia has ranked consistently at or near the top in DMP retail heroin purity levels. In addition, New York City continues to be one of the major importation and distribution centers for SA and SEA heroin.

Prices

Nationwide, in 2000, SA heroin ranged from $50,000 to $200,000 per kilogram. SEA and SWA heroin ranged in price from $40,000 to $190,000 per kilogram. Wholesale-level prices for Mexican heroin were the lowest of any type, ranging from $13,200 to $175,000 per kilogram. The wide range in kilogram prices reflects variables such as buyer/seller relationships, quantities purchased, purchase frequencies, purity, and transportation costs.

Seizures

FDSS statistics indicate that U.S. federal law enforcement authorities seized 2,506 kilograms of heroin in 2001, compared to 1,673 kilograms in 2000.

METHAMPHETAMINE

Domestic methamphetamine production, trafficking, and abuse are concentrated in the western, southwestern, and midwestern United States. Methamphetamine is also increasingly available in portions of the South and eastern United States, especially Georgia and Florida. Clandestine laboratories in California and Mexico are the primary sources of supply for methamphetamine available in the United States.

Over the last decade, the methamphetamine trafficking and abuse situation in the United States changed dramatically. In 1994, ethnic Mexican drug trafficking organizations operating "super labs" (laboratories capable of producing in excess of 10 pounds of methamphetamine in one 24-hour production cycle) based in Mexico and in California began to take control of the production and distribution of methamphetamine domestically. Independent laboratory operators, including outlaw motorcycle gangs, previously maintained control of methamphetamine production and distribution within the United States, and continue to operate today on a lesser scale. The entry of ethnic Mexican traffickers into the methamphetamine trade in the mid-1990s resulted in a significant increase in the supply of the drug. Mexican criminal organizations, based in Mexico and California, provided high-purity, low-cost methamphetamine originally to cities in the Midwest and West with Mexican populations.

In 2001, approximately 8,000 clandestine methamphetamine laboratories were seized and reported to the National Clandestine Laboratory Database at the El Paso Intelligence Center (EPIC). In 2001, 298 seized super labs were reported to EPIC. This represents a rise in the number of superlabs from 2000, in which the total number of superlabs totaled 168. Further, for all of calendar year 2000, the Tijuana Residence Office (TJRO) reported only two seized methamphetamine laboratories. During calendar year 2001, the number of clandestine laboratories seized in Baja California Norte increased substantially, with 24 clandestine laboratories seized as of December 2001. The majority of these laboratories have been seized in the cities of Tijuana and Mexicali. Due to the proximity of these laboratories to the United States, it is believed that the majority of the methamphetamine was bound for the United States.

According to EPIC, the methamphetamine seized annually in transit from Mexico to the United States has increased dramatically since 1992. Authorities seized 1,370 kilograms of methamphetamine along the border in 2001, compared with only 6.5 kilograms in 1992. The primary points of entry into the United States for methamphetamine produced in Mexico have traditionally been California ports of entry, particularly San Ysidro. Although a great amount of methamphetamine still transits this area, ports of entry in South Texas have experienced increases in smuggling activity, although this activity appears to be stabilizing. The most common method of transporting methamphetamine is within concealed compartments in passenger vehicles.

The supply of methamphetamine in the United States also stems from multiple small-scale laboratories, often operated by independent cooks who obtain the ingredients necessary for manufacture from retail and convenience stores. Methamphetamine produced in these "mom-and-pop" laboratories is generally for personal use or limited distribution. A clandestine laboratory operator can use relatively common items, such as mason jars, coffee filters, hot plates, pressure cookers, pillowcases, plastic tubing, and gas cans to substitute for sophisticated laboratory equipment. The growing use of the Internet, which provides access to methamphetamine "recipes," coupled with increased demand for high-purity product, has resulted in a dramatic increase in the number of mom-and-pop laboratories throughout the United States. In 2001, the number of labs with capacities under ten pounds totaled over 7,700.

Methamphetamine precursor chemicals diverted to large clandestine laboratories in the United States are usually dosage-form pseudoephedrine or ephedrine drug products. Because of law enforcement attention and strong state precursor control laws in California, traffickers have now diversified to pseudoephedrine suppliers nationwide, buying at relatively lower prices in other parts of the country and trafficking the product to California, where the black market price can bring up to $5,000 per pound of product.

Nationwide networks of suppliers, working together, now provide ton quantities of pseudoephedrine tablet products to the market in California and to distributors in other states. The latter divert the product to local methamphetamine laboratories. Small-scale lab operators commonly buy over-the-counter pseudoephedrine products in small amounts from legitimate retailers. Recent reporting indicates that Canadian companies are a major source of supply for pseudoephedrine destined for U.S. laboratories because of minimal chemical controls in Canada. On March 7, 2002, search warrants were served on two residences, one in Paramount and the other in Lynwood, California. Four hundred containers of 25,000 count pseudoephedrine jars, or "pickle jars," (approximately 10,000,000 tablets) and $1,502,000 USC were seized. The pseudoephedrine is believed to have originated in Canada.

Pseudoephedrine and ephedrine are also purchased from unscrupulous U.S. distributors who sell case quantities of the tablets. Ultimately, the tablets are destined for California where they are manufactured into multiple pounds of methamphetamine. The finished methamphetamine is then distributed throughout the United States through preexisting smuggling methods to the traffickers.

In addition, the use of methylsulfonylmethane (MSM) has been encountered as a "cut" in methamphetamine produced primarily by Mexican organizations. Legitimately used as a dietary supplement for horses and humans, MSM is readily available at feed and livestock stores, as well as health and nutrition stores. The addition of MSM can be used to add volume to the finished methamphetamine, thus increasing the profit. Increases in the use of MSM may be a signal of difficulty in obtaining precursors, or a simple marketing method to meet demand while increasing profit.

The crystalline form of methamphetamine, known as "ice," "glass," or "crystal," is gaining popularity. Converted from powder by criminal elements in Southeast Asia, Mexico, and the United States, ice traditionally was used in Hawaii and southern California. More recently, its use has spread along the West Coast and Southwest border areas.

The importation of methamphetamine tablets from Southeast Asia, primarily via the mail system, remains a potential threat. Produced mainly by the United Wa State Army, the largest heroin and methamphetamine trafficking group in Burma, the tablets, which weigh approximately 90 milligrams (mg), typically contain 25 to 30 mg of methamphetamine, and 45 to 65 mg of caffeine. Although it is believed that the tablets are trafficked primarily by ethnic Thais or Laotians for use in the Asian community, it is possible that larger amounts will be smuggled into the United States if demand increases outside that community.

Purity

Until 1999, the methamphetamine problem was increasing at an alarming rate. International chemical control efforts reduced the supply of those chemicals needed to produce high-quality methamphetamine. As a result, the national purity level for methamphetamine has decreased dramatically. The average purity of methamphetamine exhibits seized by DEA dropped from 71.9 percent in 1994 to 30.7 percent in 1999. The average purity of methamphetamine exhibits seized by DEA in 2000 rose slightly to 35.3 percent and 40.1 in 2001.

Prices

Methamphetamine prices vary throughout different regions of the United States. At the distribution level, prices range from $3,500 per pound in parts of California and Texas to $21,000 per pound in southeastern and northeastern regions of the country. Retail prices range from $400 to $3,000 per ounce.

Seizures

According to the FDSS, U.S. federal authorities seized a total of 2,807 kilograms of methamphetamine in 2001 compared to 3,373 kilograms in 2000.

In 2000, authorities seized 301,697 SEA methamphetamine tablets in U.S. Postal Service facilities in Oakland, Los Angeles, and Honolulu. This represents an 656-percent increase from the 1999 seizure total of 39,917.

MARIJUANA

Marijuana is the most widely abused and readily available illicit drug in the United States, with an estimated 11.5 million current users. At least one-third of the U.S. population has used marijuana sometime in their lives. The drug is considered a "gateway" to the world of illicit drug abuse. Relaxed public perception of harm, popularization by the media and by groups advocating legalization, along with the trend of smoking marijuana-filled cigars known as "blunts," contribute to the nationwide resurgence in marijuana's popularity.

The Internet also contributes to marijuana's popularity. Websites exist that provide information and links extolling the virtues of marijuana. These sites provide forums for user group discussions, post documents and messages for public discussions, and advocate the "legal" sale of marijuana. Several web sites advertising the sale of marijuana and providing instructions on home grows have also been identified.

Marijuana smuggled into the United States, whether grown in Mexico or transshipped from other Latin American source areas, accounts for most of the marijuana available in the United States. Marijuana produced in Mexico remains the most widely available. Moreover, high-potency marijuana enters the U.S. drug market from Canada. The availability of marijuana from Southeast Asia generally is limited to the West Coast. U.S. drug law enforcement reporting also suggests increased availability of domestically grown marijuana.

Domestic Marijuana

According to 2000 Domestic Cannabis Eradication/Suppression Program (DCE/SP) statistics, the five leading states for indoor growing activity were California, Florida, Oregon, Washington, and Wisconsin. DCE/SP statistics indicate that the major outdoor growing states in 2000 were California, Hawaii, Kentucky, and Tennessee; these states accounted for approximately three-quarters of the total of eradicated outdoor cultivated plants.



Mexican Marijuana

Organized crime groups operating from Mexico have smuggled marijuana into the United States since the early 1970s. These groups maintain extensive networks of associates, often related through familial or regional ties to associates living in the United States, where they control polydrug smuggling and wholesale distribution from hub cities to retail markets throughout the United States.

Groups operating from Mexico employ a variety of transportation and concealment methods to smuggle marijuana into the United States. Most of the marijuana smuggled into the United States is concealed in vehicles - often in false compartments - or hidden in shipments of legitimate agricultural or industrial products. Marijuana also is smuggled across the border by rail, horse, raft, and backpack. Shipments of 20 kilograms or less are smuggled by pedestrians who enter the United States at border checkpoints and by backpackers who, alone or in groups ("mule trains"), cross the border at more remote locations. Jamaican organizations also appear to be involved in dispatching Mexican marijuana via parcel carriers.

Organized crime groups operating from Mexico conceal marijuana in an array of vehicles, including commercial vehicles, private automobiles, pickup trucks, vans, mobile homes, and horse trailers, driven through border ports of entry. Larger shipments ranging up to multithousand kilograms are usually smuggled in tractor-trailers, such as the 6.9 metric tons of marijuana seized on April 3, 2001, by USCS officials from a tractor-trailer at the Otay Mesa, California, port of entry. The marijuana packages had been wrapped in cellophane, coated with mustard, grease, and motor oil, and commingled in a load of television sets.

Besides overland smuggling, drug traffickers use ocean vessels to move Mexican marijuana up the coast of Mexico to U.S. ports, drop-off sites along the U.S. coast, or to rendezvous points with other boats bound for the United States. Law enforcement authorities in southern California indicate that marijuana is transferred from mother ships in international waters to Mexican fishing vessels. The smaller vessels then deliver the marijuana to overland smugglers on the Mexican Baja California Peninsula. From there, the marijuana is generally moved to border transit points and then carried to the Los Angeles metropolitan area for distribution to eastern markets.

Canadian Marijuana

Canada is becoming a source country for indoor-grown, high-potency (15 to 25 percent THC) marijuana destined for the United States. Canadian law enforcement intelligence indicates that marijuana traffickers there are increasingly cultivating cannabis indoors. Such indoor-grow operations have become an enormous and lucrative illicit industry, producing a potent form of marijuana that has come to be known as "BC Bud." Canadian officials estimate that cannabis cultivation in British Columbia is a billion-dollar industry, and that traffickers smuggle a significant portion of the Canadian harvest into the United States.

Prices and Potency (THC Content)

Prices for commercial-grade marijuana have remained relatively stable over the past decade, ranging from approximately $400 to $1,000 per pound in U.S. Southwest border areas to between $700 to $2000 per pound in the Midwest and northeastern United States. The national price range for sinsemilla, a higher quality marijuana usually grown domestically, is between $900 and $6,000 per pound. BC Bud sells for between $1,500 and $2,000 per pound in Vancouver; but when smuggled into the United States, it sells for between $5,000 and $8,000 per pound in major metropolitan areas.

During the past two decades, marijuana potency has increased. According to the University of Mississippi's 2000 Marijuana Potency Monitoring Project (MPMP), commercial-grade marijuana THC levels rose from under 2 percent in the late 1970s and early 1980s to 6.07 percent in 2000. The MPMP reports that sinsemilla potency also increased, rising from 6 percent in the late 1970s and 1980s to 13.20 percent in 2000.

Seizures

According to the FDSS, U.S. federal authorities seized 1,211 metric tons of marijuana in 2001 compared to 1,236 metric tons in 2000.

MDMA

Commonly referred to as Ecstasy, XTC, Clarity, or Essence, 3, 4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) is a synthetic psychoactive drug possessing stimulant and mild hallucinogenic properties. In the early 1990s, MDMA became increasingly popular among European youth. However, it is within the last five years that MDMA use in the United States has increased at an alarming rate.

MDMA is popular among middle-class adolescents and young adults. MDMA is increasingly becoming an abuse problem because many users view it as nonaddictive and benign. MDMA is sold primarily at legitimate nightclubs and bars, at underground nightclubs sometimes called "acid houses," or at all-night parties known as "raves."

MDMA tablets range in weight from 150 to 350 mg and contain between 70 to 120 mg of MDMA. The profit margin associated with MDMA trafficking is significant. It costs as little as 25 to 50 cents to manufacture an MDMA tablet in Europe, but the street value of that same MDMA tablet can be as high as $40, with a tablet typically selling for between $20 and $30.

Although the vast majority of MDMA consumed domestically is produced in Europe, a limited number of MDMA laboratories operate in the United States. Law enforcement seized 17 clandestine MDMA laboratories in the United States in 2001 compared to 7 seized in 2000. It should be noted that these laboratories were primarily capable of limited drug production. While recipes for the clandestine production of MDMA can be found on the Internet, acquiring the necessary precursor chemicals in the United States is difficult.

MDMA is manufactured clandestinely in Western Europe, particularly in the Netherlands and to a lesser extent in Belgium. Much of the MDMA is manufactured in the southeast section of the Netherlands near Maastricht. Despite the Dutch Government's efforts to curtail MDMA trafficking, the Netherlands remains a primary source country for the drug. International MDMA traffickers based in the Netherlands and Belgium, and a significant number of U.S.-based traffickers who coordinate MDMA shipments to major metropolitan areas of the United States sometimes use Montreal and Toronto as transit points. In December 2000, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) seized approximately 150,000 MDMA tablets in Toronto that had been shipped via DHL from Brussels, Belgium, by an Israeli MDMA trafficking organization. The shipment was destined for distributors in the United States.

Due to the availability of precursor chemicals in Canada, a number of MDMA laboratories have been discovered operating near metropolitan areas such as Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal. Such laboratories continue to supply U.S. and Canadian-based MDMA trafficking organizations. According to the RCMP, the total potential yield of MDMA from laboratories uncovered in Canada since 1999 is in excess of 10 million tablets.

Another emerging trend is the use of Mexico as a transit zone for MDMA entering the United States. During 2000, several seizures were reported in or destined for Mexico. In September 2000, Dutch authorities seized a 1.25 million-tablet shipment of MDMA destined for Mexico. Previously, in April 2000, a shipment of 200,000 MDMA tablets was seized at the airport in Mexico City. The MDMA was discovered in an air cargo shipment manifested as aircraft parts sent from the Netherlands and destined for the United States.

In recent years, traffic
 

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I've not expected next session to be so soon and I missed it... But the only thing that matters is the fact that I was able to read it and all the comments here, considering that my computer is slowly dying. Don't know how much time is left till it will go kaflooey (I learned new, interesting word!), so I'm reading as much as I can.

It was very important session, and indeed very thought provoking. I could feel lots of different emotions pent-up within me as I read it, mainly the overwhelming sense of sadness, and I couldn't help but cry. Although I seem to be crying a lot lately since I've started doing EE. It's really something. Most of the time I don't even know why am I crying for.

I remember that when I've started my journey with Cassiopaea I wasn't really worried about possible future catastrophes, world-wide famine and all those tragedies. I was caught up in my wishful thinking and I lacked imagination. Now, in 2010 I can physically feel all those changes that were foretold and I can see it in my own eyes. And it isn't so exciting anymore, though I wouldn't say I am depressed by this. It's just... It's hard not to worry about things like food, roof over your head, job, money and paying the bills. Life is getting more and more expensive and harder to cope.

In Poland we have our "precious" leaders rising VAT taxes. Normally it was 3% for non-processes food, 7% for processed food and things like meds and cloths and 22% for everything else. Now it's going to be 8% for non-processed food like meat, fish, fruits, vegetables and flour and 5% for processed like bakery products, dairy, macaroni and beverages. And 23% for everything else.
And people don't seem to care! They would rather protesting about cross that records memory of the Soleńsk crash and its localization than ruthless reforms that out government is imposing on us. Talk about awareness...

Not to mention the oncoming ice age. I still cannot fully comprehend that (I mean, imagine it - but maybe I should just observe how everything will unfold and see for myself).

Yes, I do think that we live in exciting times. But at the same time it's physically, intellectually and emotionally hard. And it hurts to see all those bloodsheds, amount of cruelty, plain stupidity and greedy psychopaths ruining our precious planet.

I'd love to see people finally grasp the glimpse of objective reality and become more aware, but seeing my own surroundings I don't have much hope.


Laura said:
Q: (Burma Jones) So then back to what Galaxia was wanting to know, is there going to be a revolution? Are people actually going to wake up and start... (Galaxia) And do something about it?

A: Oh indeed!

Q: (Galaxia) Now that's what I like to hear! (Andromeda) Is it going to be a very bloody revolution?

A: Yes.

THAT I can see :shock:. I wish I could be much more optimistic. Nevertheless I'm much calmer since I've started practicing EE.

I like this motto very much:

you hope for the best
plan for the worst
and take what you get



Thank you Laura and the crew for sharing this session!

:rockon:
 
Thank-you Laura and the whole crew...SOTT.... FOTCM.... and all involved here.
I want to comment about what the C's have said about having a front row seat and to enjoy the show. I think that they may mean that in this physical world the actions from other dimensions manifest here in 3d. They say all has meaning. Meaning what is going on behind the scenes, so to speak. For me what the C's are saying is, that if you are doing the work then that is all one can do.The people of the world do not see this planet as a battleground for our souls, but the signs are every where for those who look. I live in a world of zombies. Not a single person, and I mean NOT ONE single person, appears to be awakening that I can tell. It has led me to conclude that either I am a terrible front man for the truth movement, or that its gonna take allot more to wake them up! The C's say that changes will soon awaken many to revolt! But in my opinion, bloody violence is not the answer but the trap, the excuse the STS needs to let loose all the hell they have stock piled in their military wharehouses.
The messages I recieve from nature, and all that is around me and happening and so fourth..... is most importantly just be, and by that I mean survival, get through these tough times, I think that the STS would like to use violent revolution to mop up us who are aware and so fourth, so beware! And too, the greatest show in the universe is about to happen and we do have front seats! So Im trying to take their advice(the C's) and enjoy the show, but I do get scared too.
I have a question. Is all of North America doomed, like Canada? I am not recieving clear feelings/messages/info as to what to do about my physicality, meaning should I pack it up and move to south of France too? I'd like to, but I have been a ideolistic person, and basically have no money to speak of. I am living where I am as I want to be present in my parents lives. But I wonder if it is a trick, the emotional connection to family is... I think clouding my judgement. I have lived my life mainly by my intuition, going with the flow, doing what is befor me, living in the moment, suiting up and showing up. It has not gotten me anywhere materialistically, but I am more than satisfied with my spiritual life and knowledge.
The C's made a comment about letting the cat out of the bag regarding the floaty thingy going around the earth.
FWIW: I saw it as meaning that female energy will rule soon or is coming or something like that, and that the truth is the linch pin, or shoud I say twist tie that is keeping all this female energy at bay. Right now I feel that something is pulling/attracting our solar system, once we have gone through this plane of energy that is pulling us, the solar system will be flying free from the inertia that has been pulling us all these millienia. This inertial flying free is the female energy. The harder the STS pull us, the more power we will have after when we are flying free from their grip. I hope this has made sense, I can elaborate.

For the time being I am just going to join FOTSM, put some stuff up on my FB page, hopefull get some flyers to hand out, but again, I dont think I am the greatest messenger of this info. as my track record shows. But on the other hand of the coin, what do I know? I might have touched just one person to awaken. I have heard it said that if you save 1 life, you have saved the world. I have lived my life this way more or less.

In my perfect world, I would like to be with the Buckweat bunch, I am a great carpenter, sailer, nagivator, builder, survivalist, philosopher, I can cook, clean, I can dial a phone all day to get the word out, (but I think I would need a script, as my words need improvement!...lol)I dont want to have a paying job so much as I would like to be apart of something that I consider real. And I condsider you Laura, Shijing, Anart, Gandalf, Herondancer, Nieena Eulich, and all others here who are all my new aquaintances to be more real than my neighbours for example. I wonder why we are not physically gathering in a place where we can make our stand..... non-violent, but ready to defend what we believe in. It takes allot of work to make a co-operative communial community, but I would like to try, as I think it is worth it. Again on the other side of the coin, that seems to be 3d thinking, and maybe the appearance of our movement to be small and unnoticed in general is our strength, Im not sure. Any comments? Please, I am trying to help too. I console myself in the fact that I am considered a fool. And since reading Lauras book, I 'see' this as a good thing, spiritually.

What do you guys think of writing notes on money? I just want to get somone to think. I have taken to putting notes on money, like "want change? Stop voting for incumbents!", for example. I dont want to put this web site or the SOTT web site on the money, but what do you guys think, foolish? I'm just trying is all. What about writing "Alien Bloodine" on the Queens face on our money? I dont have a printer, or much in the way of technology, so I am left with my imagination. With people face to face it is difficult, as I get an almost violent responce or a "this guy is crazy" look. Even with the most simple info. people dont want to hear. It is always "life is too busy, I dont have the time to think about this." I even talked to a very open minded friend of a friend who knows something is very very wrong with the planet, but any hint of hidden influences and so fourth, he cant even get his mind around, people are so assured that the universe is empty of life!!!!! I dont get that at all! I've gotten on chat lines for singles just to talk about our situation, not one bite, but at least I tried. I used to whisper into the ears of street people when the opportunity presented itself. They understand more than most.

My point is I am willing, and I do things, but feel so defeated in my efforts, until this forum, I really began to think I had no allies.

In the mean time I will continue to do the following:
pray
meditate
prepare all my own food
exercise
read
act appropriately

All suggestions are appreciated.
cheers
harold
 
What do you guys think of writing notes on money?

Maybe you could write Eiriu Eolas, nothing else. Of the many who wind up handling the bill, a curious person might google it. This would be a form of viral marketing.
 
Jerry said:
What do you guys think of writing notes on money?

Maybe you could write Eiriu Eolas, nothing else. Of the many who wind up handling the bill, a curious person might google it. This would be a form of viral marketing.

That is actually not a bad idea at all! Maybe we should all take out all our bills and write in in nice print on all of them?
 
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