Tag Archive for "war on drugs"

Posts Tagged war on drugs

Michigan laws will block unemployment benefits for failed drug test

Over at theGrio.com, I reported today that Michigan Governor Rick Snyder has just signed into law a new package of laws that allow business to report failed drug tests that job seekers submit as part of the interview process. Job seekers who fail or refuse mandatory drug tests will have their unemployment benefits blocked.

By Verónica Bayetti Flores • 10 years ago

“I didn’t know unborn children had lawyers.” Federal lawsuit challenges fetal protection laws

This month, National Advocates for Pregnant Women (NAPW) filed the first federal lawsuit challenging fetal protection laws that criminalize pregnant folks who, because of addiction or other reasons, expose their fetuses to drugs. The suit is on behalf of Alicia Beltran, a Wisconsin woman taken into custody for supposedly endangering her fetus when she refused treatment for an addiction she had already ended.

By Katie Halper • 10 years ago

Is “Breaking Bad” a critique of U.S. health care (or lack thereof)?

Last night, I visited my parents for dinner and then watched the…season… no… series… [come on Katie! You can do it!]… finale [sniffles] of Breaking Bad. Though I told my mom not to watch the finale and to instead watch the entire series from the beginning, she watched the final episode with me. During the particularly moving scene between Walter and Skylar, my mom said, “This is all about lack of health care. The undoing of the social fabric. It’s so sad.”

Was she right? There has been some debate of the issue. Not surprisingly, some conservatives argue that teachers receive some of the best benefits and can’t complain. Others argue that

Last night, I visited my parents for dinner and then watched the…season… no… series… [come on Katie! You can do it!]… finale [sniffles] of Breaking Bad. Though I told my mom not to ...

By Verónica Bayetti Flores • 10 years ago

Win: Indiana Attorney General backtracks on mandatory drug testing of pregnant folks

Remember last week when Indiana’s Attorney General was suggesting that drug-testing pregnant folks in Indiana was a great idea? Well it seems someone in the Indiana AG’s office has come to their senses, because yesterday his office emailed MoveOn and RH Reality Check to let them know that they are not supporting mandatory drug-testing:

Please allow us to set the record straight. As co-chair of the state’s Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention Task Force, Attorney General Greg Zoeller spoke on Sept. 9 to the Indiana Commission on Mental Health and Addiction about Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS).

The attorney general’s comments should not be interpreted to imply that he supports mandatory opioid testing of any kind ...

By Verónica Bayetti Flores • 10 years ago

Indiana Attorney General suggests requiring drug-testing for pregnant women

Citing the cost of treating infants exposed to addictive drugs, Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller is calling on the state legislature to require the drug-testing of pregnant women:

It is called Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome, or NAS, newborns exposed to addictive illegal or prescription drugs before they are born.

Attorney General Greg Zoeller says treating NAS at Indiana hospitals cost an estimated $30 million in 2011, the most recent year for which data is available, and he says that’s with limited tracking because hospitals are not required to report the condition.

Zoeller says one solution is requiring pregnant women take drug tests to identify the problem and start treatment before birth.

“You can reduce the length of stay for the newly born baby from ...

Citing the cost of treating infants exposed to addictive drugs, Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller is calling on the state legislature to require the drug-testing of pregnant women:

It is called Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome, or NAS, newborns ...

By zerlina • 10 years ago

Attorney General Eric Holder announces new treatment for non-violent drug offenders

Yesterday, in addition to the court ruling on stop-and-frisk, there was other news with regards to civil rights. Speaking at a national gathering of the American Bar Association, Attorney General Eric Holder announced that he will review the criminal justice system and push for legislation that adjusts the archaic mandatory minimums for drug offenders as well as a directive for all U.S. attorneys to draft charges in non-violent drug offenses and possession cases, that do not trigger mandatory minimum sentences.

As a reader of this site, we all are aware that the criminal justice system and the so-called “war on drugs” in particular has a discriminatory impact on black and brown bodies. These changes are a continuation of the work that ...

By Katie Halper • 10 years ago

Daily Feminist Cheat Sheet

Shameless plug: my documentary “Commie Camp” (and I) will be in the Bay Area at The San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, where my movie is having its West Coast premiere at the Grand Lake Theater in Oakland On Sunday August 11th. Come and say hi. (Trailer above)
Wow. I don’t even know what to say about this. The widow of one of the 19 Arizona firefighters killed battling a wildfire on June 30 is being denied salary and health benefits due to her.

Shockingly Retailers And Designers Continue To Ignore Women who are bigger than a size 10.

Women are being killed and amputated because of illegal buttocks injections.

Apparently a 14-year-old girl who ...

By Verónica Bayetti Flores • 10 years ago

The war on drugs, fetal personhood, and the criminalization of pregnant women

The New York Times has a short documentary up exploring the construction of the “crack baby” epidemic – an epidemic that was largely built on racist media hype and flimsy science.

This week’s Retro Report video on “crack babies” (infants born to addicted mothers) lays out how limited scientific studies in the 1980s led to predictions that a generation of children would be damaged for life. Those predictions turned out to be wrong. This supposed epidemic — one television reporter talks of a 500 percent increase in damaged babies — was kicked off by a study of just 23 infants that the lead researcher now says was blown out of proportion. And the shocking symptoms — like tremors and low ...

The New York Times has a short documentary up exploring the construction of the “crack baby” epidemic – an epidemic that was largely built on racist media hype and flimsy science.

This week’s Retro Report video on ...