B Block Criminology - Organized crime by nature (according to Howard Abadinsky) is monopolistic - in other words organized crime groups want to have a monopoly over a specific geographic area for the illicit activity they wish to pursue. From Foreign Policy:
Drugs are just the tip of the iceberg. In the popular U.S. television series Breaking Bad, about a high school teacher turned methamphetamine kingpin, there was an instructive exchange. When the show's antihero, Walter White, was asked whether he "was in the meth business or the money business," he replied, "I'm in the empire business." The same can be said of the DTOs (Drug Trafficking Organizations), which are independent and competing entities. The sale of cocaine, heroin, marijuana, and meth remains extremely profitable. The U.S. Justice Department has put the cartels' U.S. drug trade at $39 billion annually. But the DTOs have diversified their business considerably, both to increase their profits and to exclude rivals from new sources of revenue. For example, they are dealing increasingly in pirated intellectual property, like counterfeit software, CDs, and DVDs. The most destructive new "product," however, is people. The cartels have built a multi billion-dollar business in human trafficking, including the shipment of both illegal immigrants and sex workers.
Gangs are often considered "immoral" and their profit comes from many "immoral" things. Immoral acts are distinguished from crimes on the basis of the social harm they cause. Acts that are believed to be extremely harmful to the general public are usually outlawed, whereas acts that only the harm the actor themselves are more likely to be tolerated. Acts that are illegal because they are viewed as a threat to morality are called public order crimes. The proceeds from the illegal drug trade support organized crime and greater threats to public safety, like human trafficking and hard drugs. The Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse estimates that the cost of illicit drug abuse runs $22.8 billion per year.
Drugs can be categorized by the way in which they affect our bodies The Drug Wheel classifies drugs as part of seven general categories: Stimulants, Depressants, Cannabinoids, Psychedelics, Opioids, Dissociatives and Empathogens.
Depressants slow down the messages between the brain and the body — they don’t necessarily make you feel depressed. The slower messages affect your concentration and coordination and your ability to respond to what’s happening around you. Small doses of depressants can make you feel relaxed, calm and less inhibited. Larger doses can cause sleepiness, vomiting and nausea, unconsciousness and even death.
Stimulants speed up the messages between the brain and the body. This can cause your heart to beat faster, your blood pressure to go up, your body temperature to go up – leading to heat exhaustion or even heat stroke, a reduced appetite, agitation and sleeplessness. You can feel more awake, alert, confident or energetic. Larger doses can cause anxiety, panic, seizures, stomach cramps and paranoia.
Hallucinogens (Dissociatives & Psychedelics) change your sense of reality – you can have hallucinations. Your senses are distorted and the way you see, hear, taste, smell or feel things is different. For example, you may see or hear things that are not really there, or you may have unusual thoughts or feelings. Small doses can cause a feeling of floating, numbness, confusion, disorientation, or dizziness. Larger doses may cause hallucinations, memory loss, distress, anxiety, increased heart rate, paranoia, panic and aggression.
A drug may be legal to consume, illegal to consume, or legal to consume only for specific people in specific circumstances. Examples of drugs that are usually or always legal to consume include alcohol (depressant), caffeine, and nicotine (both stimulants). Examples of drugs that are usually or always illegal to consume include cocaine, crack cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine. These latter drugs are listed in the Controlled Drug and Substances Act.
Now... British Columbia was granted an exemption from the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA) by federal government in November 2022 which will run until 2026. Under the exemption, up to 2.5 grams of the following four drug types can be legally possessed:
- Cocaine (crack and powder).
- Methamphetamine.
- MDMA.
- Opioids (including heroin, fentanyl and morphine).
In BC, illicit drug toxicity death is the second-highest cause of years of potential life lost (only cancer was higher), and the highest cause in the 19-39 year age group. The impacts of decriminalization are monitored by the Province of BC and through a federally funded evaluation. So, to that end effective immediately, it's illegal to consume hard drugs in public in B.C. Police will enforce the law against drug use in all public places, including hospitals, restaurants, transit, parks and beaches with the ability to compel the person to leave the area, seize the drugs when necessary or arrest the person, if required. This change does not recriminalize drug possession in a private residence or place where someone is legally sheltering, or at overdose prevention sites and drug checking locations.
A Block Physical Geography - Quiz time. Today is your Geomorphology quiz and if you prepared I'm certain you'll do fine. You may use your work/note package to help. There are 35 multiple selection questions in total which should take you about a half hour to 40 minutes to complete. What are we doing for the rest of the class? Oh today we start with weather, the best topic ever! I'll have you brainstorm a list of things you know (or think you know) about weather and then I'll try to answer questions you've always wanted answered about the topic. I'm so excited to be starting weather! Hail, lightning, tornadoes, and hurricanes are four on "the list" get ready, it's going to be a bumpy ride. Why study weather, besides the fact that it is awesome...yes it is and you know it, maybe because it can impact our lives significantly.
From the 2023: A historic year of U.S. billion-dollar weather and climate disasters and NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) U.S. Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters (2024).
There were 28 weather and climate disasters in 2023, surpassing the previous record of 22 in 2020, tallying a price tag of at least $92.9 billion. 2023 was also deadly, causing at least 492 direct or indirect fatalities—the 8th most disaster-related fatalities for the contiguous U.S. since 1980. The costliest 2023 events were the Southern / Midwestern Drought and Heat Wave ($14.5 billion) and the Southern and Eastern Severe Weather in early March ($6.0 billion). Adding the 2023 events to the record that began in 1980, the U.S. has sustained 376 weather and climate disasters with the overall damage costs reaching or exceeding $1 billion. The cumulative cost for these 376 events exceeds $2.660 trillion.
And of course...
Today's Fit...
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