A Review and Comment Re: Drug abuse diminishes Southwest Virginia's workforce, By Laurence Hammack

“In some years, more people have died of drug overdoses than in homicides, house fires and alcohol-related automobile accidents combined.”

http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/296822

“The impact of prescription drug abuse on the region's economy was just one of many aspects covered by the report released last week by One Care of Southwest Virginia.”

(Bloggers Notes) This has been repeated, time and time again, in many articles, reports and including most studies; however, we need to enforce our laws and prosecute both prescription and illegal drug pusher/dealers without exception...

One problem I know of and understand is that drug overdose deaths not reported properly with respect to the Uniform Crime Report (UCR) Standards and are misleading when they do not include; moreover and as a negative result, exclude drug overdose deaths.  Drug dealers under current federal and some state laws are charged with a homicide or murder 2 in the second degree, with the possibility of up to a life sentence upon conviction.  

The UCR Stats are used a guide to help direct our efforts and resources on where, when, why and how to address public safety, health and welfare issues or concerns.

However, that said, if the stats themselves constitute a statistical fallacy, then we are not addressing or even aware of a bigger problem or those issues and thereby allowing the criminal activities, illegal enterprises and continuing drug wars/deaths to continue.

Drug, Human and Gun Trafficking operations are indeed, all three tied together.  When you find one, the other two is/are surely hidden somewhere in the shadows too!

Current Laws Polaris Project Combating Human Trafficking and Modern-day Slavery

Please click on the link below for your individual state report which lists the statute(s) your state received credit for. This list is not necessarily exhaustive of all of the laws against human trafficking in each state, and only includes the laws from the 10 categories that we track for the state ratings map.For guidelines and examples of bill language, please consult Polaris Project’s Model Provisions of Comprehensive State Legislation to Combat Human Trafficking and Commentary.

http://www.polarisproject.org/what-we-do/policy-advocacy/state-policy/current-laws

Many American Workers begin 20/HR workweeks!

United States – Many American Workers begin 20/HR workweeks and thereby have created twice or doubled the jobs available nationwide.  We can help each other, our families and neighbors to survive this economic downturn by working together toward a better tomorrow.

Advocates determined that by working together and sharing our nations legitimate jobs across the country, everyone benefits to the same level or degree of being employed rather than being unemployed and dependent upon social programs or working illegitimate jobs for support. Consequently and/or in addition to, the 20/hr workweek employment program would help US end/stop drug, human and gun trafficking.  

That which is good, pleasurable and loving toward all things in-kind both animate and inanimate objects alike, ought to be in the best interest of all parties concerned; however, and because we have ‘freewill’ the choice is always personal and foremost, as indeed, “A ‘collective unconscious’ is the expression of both good and evil, pleasure and punishment, love and death.” (Carl Gustav Jung, 1875-1961)

The irony is that we need a paradigm shift in the mind-set of our individual perception of the current reality to understand why we must work together and without exception to avoid any further demise.

Indeed, global disasters around the world have always brought everyone together from both sides of the isle or social communities to engage in a common cause to help those in need.  All things considered, it would seem like common since would dictate that everything in our best interest is always working together 365.4 days a year without further question.

[t]he first person charged under Michigan's new human trafficking law

http://detnews.com/article/20110819/METRO01/108190373/Girl-held-as-sex-slave-tells-of-beatings-at-suspect’s-court-hearing#.Tk4xqkICNxY.facebook

Last Updated: August 19. 2011 1:00AM

Girl held as sex slave tells of beatings at suspect's court hearing

Doug Guthrie/ The Detroit News

Detroit — A soft-voiced girl testified Thursday in the city's 36th District Court she was a 14-year-old runaway last summer when she spent a month selling her body on a Detroit street corner under the constant threat of beatings and death.

"We had to come home with at least $200. If I didn't, he would beat me," the girl testified at a preliminary examination for the man accused of making her and another teenage girl his sexual slaves.

Sedrick Leman-Isaac Mitchell, 32, also known as "Gruesome," is the first person charged under Michigan's new human trafficking law, a felony that carries a penalty of up to life in prison. He was apprehended last month in Mojave, Calif., according to Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette.

Mitchell is charged with multiple crimes, including first-degree criminal sexual assault, racketeering, prostitution, felonious assault and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, for allegedly holding the then-14-year-old and a then-15-year-old girl captive for two months in a house on Detroit's east side.

One victim, whom Judge Deborah Geraldine Bledsoe-Ford asked the media not to name, testified Thursday about meeting Mitchell three days after running away from home July 4, 2010. She said she was taken to a drug house where she smoked marijuana and had sex with Mitchell.

A few days later, the girl testified Mitchell told her and another girl he "wanted us to make him some money … I understood he wanted us to sell our bodies."

Mitchell is accused of repeatedly sexually assaulting both girls, once choking the then-15-year-old when she resisted his sexual advances, according to investigators. The other alleged victim testified Thursday that Mitchell held a gun to her head and told her he would kill her if she failed to do everything he asked.

"He would get mad," the girl testified. "He always wanted me to know I was his (whore) and he could control me, not nobody else."

She described standing on the corner of Fenkel and Livernois every day through August of last summer, from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m., having sex for money with as many as six men a night. She said Mitchell also had sex with her, as often as three times a day. She said she turned over all the money she earned, and Mitchell bought her fast food and revealing clothing.

"He told me to leave with no guys unless they was a customer or he would come back and beat me or kill me," the girl testified.

The alleged victim said a third girl under Mitchell's control was tied up and scalded with hot water in the basement of a Detroit home near the Eastland Center mall for insulting one of Mitchell's friends.

Assistant Attorney General Kelly Carter told the judge authorities don't know the whereabouts of this other girl.

The alleged victim who testified Thursday said she eventually got the courage to tell Mitchell she didn't want to be a prostitute, and she said he offered her a choice of continuing or taking a beating before he would allow her to leave.

"I took the beating," she said, but after a few days alone on the street, she said she called Mitchell and asked him to take her back. She said she "wasn't ready yet" to go home.

Mitchell's arrest followed investigations by Michigan State Police and the FBI through the Southeast Michigan Crimes Against Children Task Force.

A Michigan law banning human trafficking was strengthened in 2010 and went into effect in April. The changes included adding trafficking to the list of offenses included under the state's racketeering law.

It authorizes additional compensation for trafficking victims and stronger penalties against offenders.

The hearing ended Thursday without conclusion. It will resume Sept. 8 with testimony from the other alleged victim.

dguthrie@detnews.com

(313) 222-2548

From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20110819/METRO01/108190373/Girl-held-as-sex-slave-tells-of-beatings-at-suspect’s-court-hearing#ixzz1VT0pP9pR

Human Trafficking and Prevention App - kolectivstudio.com

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idFoxd60wtw&feature=player_embedded
Human Trafficking and Prevention App - kolectivstudio.com
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/s/ RICHARD A. SANDS, PD/PI
Michigan Private Detective Agency
State ID# 3701205140
www.sob-csc.org
734-771-7251

National Adult Entertainment Control Coalition (NAECC) International Drug &
Human Trafficking Victims Association Of America (IDHTVAA) Sexual Oriented
Business Crime Study Center (SOB-CSC) Qui Tam Research Service (QTRS)
Adult Entertainment Coalition For Occupational Safety And Health (AhEeCOSH)
“Stephanie’s Place” Community Action Network Downriver Office Of The Universal
Church Of Angelic Jurisprudence, RS&S INTERNATIONAL, LLC and E-Verify US Ink

Pause for the Cause – Facebook

http://www.facebook.com/groups/135422096535576/?id=154509694626816&ref=notif&notif_t=group_activity#!/groups/135422096535576/

"I am Drugs" by Beckie Lee

I destroy homes, I tear families apart.
Take your children, and that's just the start.
I'm more costly than diamonds, more precious than gold,

The sorrow I bring is a sight to behold.
If you need me, I'm easily found,
I live all around you-in schools and ...in town.
I live down the street, and maybe next door.

My power is awesome. Try me you'll see,

But if you do, you may never break free.
Just try me once and I may let you go,
But try me twice and I may own your soul.

When I possess you, you'll steal and you'll lie,

You do what you have to-just to get high.
The crimes you'll commit for my narcotic charms
Will be worth the pleasure

you'll feel in your nose, lungs, or arms.

You'll lie to your mother; you'll steal from your dad,
When you see their tears, you should feel sad.
But you'll forget morals and how you were raised,

I'll be your conscience, I'll teach you my ways.

I take kids from parents, and parents from kids,
I turn people from God, and separate friends.
I'll take everything from you, your looks and your pride,

I'll be with you always and stay by your side.

You'll give up everything-your family, your home,
Your friends and your money- then you'll be alone.
I'll take and take, till you have nothing to give,

When I am finished, you'll be lucky to live.
If you try me be warned-this is no game,
If given the chance, I'll drive you insane.
I'll ravish your body; I'll control your mind.

I'll own you completely; your soul will be mine.
The nightmares I'll give you while lying in bed,
The voices you'll hear, from inside your head.
The sweats, the shakes, and the visions you'll see.

I want you to know, these are all gifts from me.
But, then it's too late, and you'll know in your heart,
That you are mine, and we shall not part.
You'll regret that you tried me, they always do.

But you came to me, not I to you.
You knew this would happen, many times you were told,
But you challenged my power, and chose to be bold.
You could have said no, and just walked away,

If you could live that day over, now what would you say?
I'll be your master, you'll be my slave.
I'll even go with you, when you go to your grave.
Now that you've met me, what will you do?

Will you try me again? What will you do?
The decision is yours. It is all up to you.
I can bring you more misery than words can tell,
Come take my hand, let me lead you to hell...