Archive for November 2011

Drug Smuggling Accused Border Guard Baljinder Kandola At Loss For Words At Trial

Fraser Trevor

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Title: Drug Smuggling Accused Border Guard Baljinder Kandola At Loss For Words At Trial
Author: Fraser Trevor
Rating 5 of 5 Des:

While one former Indo-Canadian border guard got five years for his part in a drug smuggling ring – another is currently on trial for his p...

While one former Indo-Canadian border guard got five years for his part in a drug smuggling ring – another is currently on trial for his part in a different operation that brought millions of illicit drugs into Canada. Baljinder Kandola, a former Canadian border guard who was charged with being part of a cocaine-smuggling ring, was at a loss for words during much of his testimony on Tuesday to explain why he risked so much to help a millionaire auto-parts importer for nothing in return. Under cross-examination by Crown counsel James Torrance, Kandola said he agreed to wave his co-accused Shminder Singh Johal and associates in his three automotive companies through the border, helping them avoid inspection, reported the Province newspaper. Kandola — who worked at the Pacific Highway crossing from July 2001 until his arrest on Oct. 25, 2007 — admitted he made unauthorized use of Canadian Border Services Agency databases to come to the conclusion Johal had been subjected to inspections over the years unfairly. “He asked if I was able to wave him through,” Kandola told B.C. Supreme Court Justice Selwyn Romilly, who is hearing the case without a jury. “It would save him time and money, and he wouldn’t be harassed.” Torrance reminded Kandola of his testimony a day earlier, when he said he was risking his job, his pension and his standing in the Sikh community by breaking his oath to protect Canada’s borders. “What was [Johal] offering you in return?” asked the prosecutor. “He didn’t offer me anything,” replied Kandola. “In my mind he was bringing auto parts into Canada.” Torrance asked, “This [waving Johal through] was definitely something you shouldn’t do?” “Yes,” agreed the witness. “Then why would you want to help a successful millionaire businessman?” Kandola replied: “I don’t know, I’ve asked myself the same question.” Torrance turned to Kandola’s illegal use of the databases to come to the conclusion Johal was unfairly harassed. A “lookout” had been placed on Johal’s border crossings after a tip from the RCMP. “Did you not consider [Johal] was previously suspected of smuggling cocaine?” asked Torrance. “No,” said Kandola. “That was all cleared up by your queries [into the databases]?” “I guess so,” replied the defendant. Torrance then meticulously went through Kandola’s phone, text and CBSA database records to show that he called Johal to let him know when he was in position to wave him through the border and when the “lookout” was on or off during the wee hours of Feb. 10, 2007. Asked if he was paid by Johal when they met at a 7-Eleven store the next day, Kandola denied it. Kandola was arrested on Oct. 25, 2007, shortly after he waved through a car driven by Herman Riar that contained 208 kilograms of cocaine. Riar pleaded guilty to drug smuggling and was sentenced last year to 12 years in prison. Kandola and Johal have pleaded not guilty to charges of drug smuggling, illegal firearms, conspiracy and bribing an official. The trial in New Westminster is scheduled to last three more weeks.

Drug Smuggling Accused Border Guard Baljinder Kandola At Loss For Words At Trial

While one former Indo-Canadian border guard got five years for his part in a drug smuggling ring – another is currently on trial for his p...

B.C. skipper linked to cocaine shipment posed beside pile of cash

Fraser Trevor

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Title: B.C. skipper linked to cocaine shipment posed beside pile of cash
Author: Fraser Trevor
Rating 5 of 5 Des:

Just weeks before notorious B.C. skipper John Philip Stirling was caught near Colombia on a boat full of cocaine, he sent his neighbour in...

Just weeks before notorious B.C. skipper John Philip Stirling was caught near Colombia on a boat full of cocaine, he sent his neighbour in Chase — a community in B.C.'s Shuswap region — photos of himself lying on the floor beside a giant pile of money. In the accompanying email, Stirling told Shawn Martin that he wouldn't repay cash he owed him despite being flush after a recent trip to the South American cocaine centre. Bizarre details of Stirling's feud with his neighbours, Martin and his mother Myrna Beckman, over loans totalling $30,000 are laid out in a suit and counter-suit filed in August and September in Kamloops Supreme Court and obtained the Vancouver Sun. Stirling was arrested by the U.S. Coast Guard on Oct. 18 just north of Colombia with 400 kilograms of cocaine secreted aboard his sailboat. He is currently detained in a Miami Detention Centre where he told officials "there was nothing wrong with cocaine trafficking and that the United States should mind its own business." "He further remarked that if Canada didn't have such high taxes, (he and his co-accused) could get legitimate jobs." If allegations in the B.C. court documents are accurate, some in the town of 2,500 were aware of Stirling's plan to import cocaine. Martin and Beckman, who live down the road from Stirling and his wife Marlene, say in their court claim they heard at a barbecue last March "that the plaintiff John Stirling was in Colombia setting up a massive cocaine deal." Martin and Beckman said their efforts to get repayment on several loans to the Stirlings were met with threats and harassment. They also said accusations by the Stirlings that the neighbours were the aggressors in the dispute are ridiculous — Martin has dwarfism and gets around with crutches and a wheelchair; his mother, 63, is his caregiver. Both Martin and Beckman declined to comment to the Sun because their case is before the courts. Marlene Stirling did not return calls. The documents show that Stirling, a 60-year-old convicted cocaine trafficker, struck first against his neighbours, filing a suit on Aug. 29 asking for $10 million in damages. Stirling said in a brief synopsis that over the last two years, his disabled neighbour and mom have threatened the Stirlings "with bodily harm and death." "The defendants have written the plaintiffs blackmail letters for money," Stirling wrote. "The defendants have caused anxiety, depression, stress, loss of sleep requiring medical care to the petitioners. "The defendants have caused travel to become necessary from Colombia for John Stirling at great expense and loss from work to protect his family . . . The defendants have or have attempted to hire Hells Angels to cause murder or physical harm to the plaintiffs and have made statements by phone and email of that intent," the Stirling claim said. The neighbours fired back in a detailed defence filed Sept. 14, denying all the allegations and making a counter-claim. They said that, unlike Stirling, they have no criminal record and no connection to the notorious biker gang. "The defendants do not know any Hells Angels or Hells Angels associates and have never had dealings with them or hired them to do anything," Martin and Beckman said, adding the only information they have about the Angels came from the Stirlings themselves. "The plaintiff Marlene Stirling also told the defendants that two Hells Angels members sat at her kitchen table and had coffee on multiple different times," the documents said. They said they learned in an Internet search of Stirling's 2001 bust on his fishing boat, the Western Wind, with 2.5 tonnes of cocaine owned by the Hells Angels. He was never charged. Tensions escalated between the former friends in August, when Stirling "was back from Colombia and was bragging that he had two suitcases full of money containing in excess of $200,000," the mother-son team said. Martin fired off an email, "asking John to pay the rest of the money the plaintiffs owed the defendants for loans from June 1, 2007, to Feb. 23, 2011." On Aug. 23, Stirling sent his neighbours "an email with a picture of him laying on the floor of his Adams' Lake residence with a pile of money in front of him, holding a piece of paper with Aug. 19, 2011, written on it," the claim said. The email said: "I told you if you waited you would have got paid, but since you didn't, you will never receive a dime and everyone else has been paid back for their investment but you." They said Stirling warned them that he would go to court and ruin them if they didn't back off. "The defendants have videotape evidence of the plaintiff John Stirling threatening to kill more than one person at gunpoint," the documents said. "On Sept. 10, 2011, the defendants were informed that the plaintiff John Stirling has been seeking to hire people to burn down the defendants' house and cause physical harm to them." Martin and Beckman said "a man calling himself Ryan showed up at the defendants' residence wearing a black leather jacket with a Hells Angel patch and was looking for the plaintiff John Stirling because John apparently owed this guy Ryan money." Martin said in the court statement that he called Stirlings' house and warned Marlene that someone was looking for John "and that he sounded really p—ed off."

B.C. skipper linked to cocaine shipment posed beside pile of cash

Just weeks before notorious B.C. skipper John Philip Stirling was caught near Colombia on a boat full of cocaine, he sent his neighbour in...

John Philip Stirling, 60, is in a Florida jail after U.S. authorities allegedly seized 400 kilograms of cocaine from his vessel

Fraser Trevor

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Title: John Philip Stirling, 60, is in a Florida jail after U.S. authorities allegedly seized 400 kilograms of cocaine from his vessel
Author: Fraser Trevor
Rating 5 of 5 Des:

Phil Stirling, shown here in 2000, told U.S. authorities there’s nothing wrong with cocaine trafficking, and said the States should mind i...

<div id="imageBox" class="imagesize460" style="font-family: arial, verdana, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 11px; float: left; width: 620px; margin-bottom: 20px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: #e5e5e5; position: relative; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff;"><div class="wrapper_0_10_0_0" style="float: left; padding: 0px;"><div class="storyimage" style="border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: #e5e5e5; padding-bottom: 5px;"><a style="color: #035a91; font-family: arial; text-decoration: none; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; border: initial none initial;" href="http://www.theprovince.com/news/flamboyant+boisterous+dealer+sent+Florida+jail/5678592/story.html"><img alt="Phil Stirling, shown here in 2000, told U.S. authorities there&#8217;s nothing wrong with cocaine trafficking, and said the States should mind its own business." border="0" class="thumbnail" id="storyphoto" src="http://www.theprovince.com/news/5678593.bin" style="width: 460px; border: initial none initial;" title="Phil Stirling, shown here in 2000, told U.S. authorities there&#8217;s nothing wrong with cocaine trafficking, and said the States should mind its own business." /></a></div><div class="clear" style="font-size: 1px; clear: both; height: 1px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; margin-top: -1px;"> </div><div class="imagetext" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 3px; margin-left: 0px; color: #7b7b7b; line-height: 14px; width: 460px;"><h1 id="photocaption" style="margin-top: 5px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-weight: normal; width: 460px; padding: 0px;">Phil Stirling, shown here in 2000, told U.S. authorities there’s nothing wrong with cocaine trafficking, and said the States should mind its own business.</h1><h2 id="photocredit" style="margin-top: 5px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-weight: normal; padding: 0px;">Photograph by: RIC ERNST, PNG</h2></div></div></div><div id="page1" style="font-family: arial, verdana, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff;">A self-described drug smuggler who walked away unscathed from two high-profile drug busts in B.C. has landed himself in hot water south of the border.John Philip Stirling, 60, is in a Florida jail after U.S. authorities allegedly seized 400 kilograms of cocaine from his vessel on Oct. 18.According to U.S. court documents, Stirling, in an unprompted outburst while being transported to a detention centre, said there was nothing wrong with cocaine trafficking and that the U.S. should mind its own business.“He further remarked that if Canada didn’t have such high taxes, they could get legitimate jobs,” said the affidavit.Stirling’s defiant comments did not come as a surprise to retired RCMP Sgt. Pat Convey, who spent years chasing the man.“That sounds like our man, Mr. Stirling,” said Convey, reached at his Vancouver Island home.Stirling was a “big, flamboyant, boisterous guy who enjoyed taking chances,” said Convey. “That’s what he was about. He was a drug trafficker. I think he’s been that all his life.”Stirling — who had admitted to The Province in 2002 that he started smuggling dope when he was 16 — was skippering the Atlantis V when it was spotted on a routine patrol by the U.S. Coast Guard about 400 kilometres north of Colombia on Oct. 17.When inspectors boarded the ship, they allegedly found 358 packages of drugs — mostly cocaine, but also some heroin and methamphetamines.Stirling and his crew — fellow Canadians Thomas Arthur Henderson and Randy Wilfred Theriault, Colombian Jose Manuel Calvo Herrera and Italian Luigi Barbaro — were arrested and charged.According to Barbaro’s statement, the ship departed from Santa Marta, Colombia, and was headed to Australia.Stirling, who was sentenced to five years in jail in the 1980s on cocaine-related charges, had been arrested twice before in similar circumstances.In a highly publicized case, Stirling was caught by U.S. authorities off Washington’s Cape Alava in 2001 with 2½ tonnes of cocaine, worth more than $250 million, aboard the Western Wind.He was turned over to the Canadians. Later, he claimed he was an RCMP informant and that he was transporting the cocaine for the Hells Angels. No charges were laid.Stirling was again arrested in 2006 after authorities found 155 bales of marijuana aboard a vessel near Vancouver Island. The charges were stayed.Convey believes Stirling might finally get the reckoning he has eluded in Canada.“The Americans play a different game from us, and quite frankly, our system leaves a hell of a lot to be desired,” he said.“If they proceed with the case and they got him with the many hundred kilos [of cocaine], he’s going in for a long time.”</div>

John Philip Stirling, 60, is in a Florida jail after U.S. authorities allegedly seized 400 kilograms of cocaine from his vessel

Phil Stirling, shown here in 2000, told U.S. authorities there’s nothing wrong with cocaine trafficking, and said the States should mind i...

‘Slob’ Simmons had sex sickness says Ace

Fraser Trevor

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Title: ‘Slob’ Simmons had sex sickness says Ace
Author: Fraser Trevor
Rating 5 of 5 Des:

Former Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley says Gene Simmons is an “epic slob” sex addict – and his sleeping around meant he was contantly sufferin...

Former Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley says Gene Simmons is an “epic slob” sex addict – and his sleeping around meant he was contantly suffering attacks of lice. The claims appear in Frehley’s autobiography, No Regrets, in which he discusses his own addiction issues along with memories of his two stints with the glam icons. The guitarist writes: “I believe Gene is a sex addict in much the same way I am an alcoholic. “If you’ve been with only one or two women (and had to beg for whatever you got off them) it must be intoxicating to suddenly have groupies falling all over you. “You go from getting laid once or twice a year to getting laid a hundred times by a hundred different women. “Gene would fuck almost anything. Short, tall, plump, svelte, attractive, merely tolerable. Gene seemed to live in a state of perpetual infestation.” It wasn’t just Simmons’ private parts which were a mess, Frehley continues, calling his former colleague “a fastidious businessman – but an utter mess in his personal life.” The pair recently had lunch together, prompting Simmons to warn fans not to expect a reunion, but saying they were on good terms. Asked what he makes of the comments in Frehley’s book, the bassist tells the New York Post: “Fact: Ace has been a drug addict and an alcoholic for 35 years. Fact: We love Ace and wish him all the best.”

‘Slob’ Simmons had sex sickness says Ace

Former Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley says Gene Simmons is an “epic slob” sex addict – and his sleeping around meant he was contantly sufferin...

Brain scans may show addiction to soda, sugar, and certain processed fatty foods

Fraser Trevor

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Title: Brain scans may show addiction to soda, sugar, and certain processed fatty foods
Author: Fraser Trevor
Rating 5 of 5 Des:

What changes in your brain may be caused by soda, fatty foods, processed foods, and sugar? You can check out the Bloomberg News article by...

What changes in your brain may be caused by soda, fatty foods, processed foods, and sugar? You can check out the Bloomberg News article by Robert Langreth and Duane D. Stanford, which appeared today in the November 6, Sacramento Bee, "Soda, fatty foods may spur addiction." In that article, studies are reported that show changes in the human brain. But sometimes the average consumer may not know which foods are addictive and which foods are healthier for the individual. Cupcakes may be addictive just like cocaine, according to the article, "Soda, fatty foods may spur addiction." Basically the medical studies at leading universities mentioned in the article show that processed foods and sugary drinks hijack the brain "in ways that resemble addictions to cocaine, nicotine, and other drugs." You have to examine the data, which the article reports is overwhelming. And the point of the article explains that scientists are finding evidence of overlap between drugs in the brain and food. Why does food, well, certain types of food, hit the brain like a bomb or rather like a drug and change the brain in much the same way as addiction to drugs change the brain? Food is medicine, say some scientists. And other researchers say food is addictive. The Lab tests so far have found that sugary drinks and fatty foods may produce addictive behavior in animals. Then human brain scans were done by the scientists. But the scans looked compulsive eaters and obese participants. What the scientists found were disturbances in brain-reward circuits similar to those experienced by drug addicts or drug abusers. In 2011, there are already 28 published studies on food addiction. You can look up these articles in the National Library of Medicine database. See the site, National Library of Medicine - National Institutes of Health. You have on one hand scientists looking at processed, commercial foods that they are calling addictive. But will industry put it's foot in the door so to speak when the food and beverage businesses generate one trillion dollars, according to the article? The news article doesn't state whether the one trillion dollar food industry figure is annual or not. What both the scientists and the industry are watching for is any real proof that fatty foods and snacks sweetened with sugar or corn syrup are addictive. So far, there's no proof in writing with a definitive statement saying certain foods are addictive drugs or behave like addictive drugs in the human brain. On the other hand, for shoppers, the consumer battle depends on what scientists can find that can be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Now it's a legal problem. You can check out the website of Yale University's Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity. See, Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity — Home. The site contains numerous articles. See, On Preventing Nutrition Negligence. There also are the results of seminars you can peruse. See, Excess Intake and Taxes on Sugar-Sweetened Beverages: Potential Implications on Healthcare Costs and Selling Public Health Policy in Derivative Markets: Lessons from the 2009-2010 New York State Sugary Beverage Excise Tax Campaigns. For example in the 2011 newsletter of the Rudd Center, you can read a brief article about why the Rudd Center objects to recent criticism of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, whose suitability as a potential presidential candidate has been challenged because of his body weight. Another focus is the language that health care providers use when discussing a child's weight with parents can reinforce weight-based stigma and jeopardize discussions about health, according to a study recently published by the Rudd Center. The study appeared in the journal Pediatrics. President Obama Urged to Protect Children from Junk-Food Marketing Food advocates across the country are asking the President to act now to protect children from junk-food marketing. The country’s leading researchers and advocates for healthy eating, coordinated by the Prevention Institute, unveiled “We’re Not Buying It,” a video highlighting deceptive marketing to children and launched a campaign urging the President to stand up for children’s health, according to an article posted at the Rudd Center. The Interagency Working Group on Food Marketed to Children (IWG) proposed reasonable, science-based nutrition guidelines to help provide a model for companies that market to kids. However, the food industry and media companies are working to get Congress and the Administration to stop the IWG from finalizing these sensible recommendations. The campaign calls on the President to join parents, doctors, and public health practitioners in standing up for children’s health by supporting the voluntary guidelines, according to the Rudd Center's October 2011 newsletter. Check out the many nutrition-related articles and reports in their current and archived newsletters. Also see the site, EWG Takes a Stand on Food Marketed for Children. Anti-smoking Foods: What foods help motivate people to stop smoking or never start? What area the best foods to motivate you to quit smoking or to never start the habit? First, you avoid some of the most addictive foods, sugar, milk shakes, ice cream, cheese, chocolate, and processed or BBQ'd meats. Instead you eat sweet fruits when you crave sweets, such as an apple or banana. Next, you eat vegetables other than fries. Try a salad of shrimp or salmon, raw spinach, celery, carrots, red bell peppers, yellow squash or zucchini, raw mung bean sprouts, and chopped green onions. What happens to your body when you detox from smoking is a 10-day period of imbalance. The more green and red vegetables and fruits you eat, the quicker you'll get the nicotine toxins out of your body. Also try a little vitamin C, if your health condition permits taking vitamins. Drink lots of filtered, purified water. If milk and cheese causes you to crave suites, avoid dairy products and drink almond milk, hemp milk, or hazelnut milk. Or try a bowl of black rice and raw, organic sauerkraut and a dish of chili beans without meat. By avoiding the four most addictive foods which are sugar, chocolate, cheese, and red meat, especially cheese burgers, you will not stir up cravings for highly addictive foods that most people eat daily without realizing how 'hooked' on sugar, red or cold-cut meat, and cheese they really are. Also, don't load up on bread. Try crackers. Instead eat apples and cinnamon. Spices reduce cravings as do apples. You might cook a pot of boiled brown rice with a handful of raisins or other sweet, dried fruit such as goji berries, blue berries, or cherries and a dash of cinnamon and cloves. When the rice is cooked and fragrant, add a can of coconut milk, and let the cooked rice absorb the coconut milk. Thin the coconut milk with almond milk. Serve chilled. The fragrance of the dried fruit, such as dehydrated nectarines in the brown rice is filling and sweet without addicting you to dairy and table sugar or white rice. If you can't tolerate whole grains, try an egg drop soup made from boiled diced onions, celery and carrots into which you drop by the tablespoonful two beaten eggs. Flavor with cilantro and any spices or seasonings you enjoy. For more bulk, add a cup of cooked chick peas, pinto beans, or black beans to the soup and slices of avocado. Spices cut down on cravings for sweets as well as for other food items familiar to you such as the food that creates cravings which are sugar, cheese, chocolate, and meat. What helps most in food items to help you quit smoking? Apples, ginger, and cinnamon. And adding garlic to any foods also helps you cut the cravings. Think spices and herbs--ginger, cloves, cinnamon, and garlic added to foods. Save the garlic for the savory foods like fish, beans, and grains. Also a dash of curry and turmeric help. The spicier the food as long as you can stand the spices and herbs, the lower the cravings for smoking or for sweets. Sometimes coconut milk because it's medium chain saturated fats also helps you cut the cravings. But go easy on the fats. Olive oil on salads also helps as long as you don't crave lots of cheese with the olive oil. Be aware of your cravings for dairy unless you're lactose intolerant and don't enjoy dairy items such as cheese. Instead, you may prefer organic raw sauerkraut and fermented foods such as tempeh which you could use instead of cheese. For example, try sauerkraut over tempeh, which is fermented soy. Sauerkraut is fermented cabbage. Numerous fermented foods are made more digestible by the fermentation process with cultures, molds, or bacteria that is said to help digestion.

Brain scans may show addiction to soda, sugar, and certain processed fatty foods

What changes in your brain may be caused by soda, fatty foods, processed foods, and sugar? You can check out the Bloomberg News article by...

the Internet has many of us on a very short leash – an addictive one.

Fraser Trevor

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Title: the Internet has many of us on a very short leash – an addictive one.
Author: Fraser Trevor
Rating 5 of 5 Des:

Whether you’re mid-bite, mid-sentence or perhaps mid-sleep, do you react to that ‘bing’ from your smartphone? Or, is it the flashing red lig...

<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #aaaaaa; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Whether you’re mid-bite, mid-sentence or perhaps mid-sleep, do you react to that ‘bing’ from your smartphone? Or, is it the flashing red light that gets you?<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #aaaaaa; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">You’ve programmed your phone to alert you to messages, or has it programmed you to respond?<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #aaaaaa; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">From the constant smartphone companion to the laptop replacing the lapdog, the Internet has many of us on a very short leash – an addictive one.<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #aaaaaa; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">The consumer research firm Intersperience surveyed more than 1,000 people in Britain and found quitting the Internet is as hard for some as quitting drinking or smoking.<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #aaaaaa; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Without the Internet, 40% said they felt lonely. Ironically, it’s fathomable that 40% of those living with Internet addicts probably feel lonely too.<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #aaaaaa; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Laurie Tamblyn, an addictions counsellor in special programs at Toronto’s Bellwood Health Services, says there are many types of Internet addiction, including gambling, gaming, pornography and social networking.<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #aaaaaa; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">“We’re just beginning to treat this. It is a big problem and it is going to become bigger before people start recognizing that they need to do something about it,” Tamblyn says.<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #aaaaaa; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">“Some of us believe there is a tsunami coming because we haven’t fully recognized the problem yet.”<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #aaaaaa; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Part of that problem is the generation gap. Children today are children of technology – dependent on the social web and its tools.<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #aaaaaa; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Addiction is a progressive illness that ends up in isolation, Tamblyn says, so Internet use can be a slippery slope, and can have devastating effects on relationships.<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #aaaaaa; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">“The amount of time people spend lost in their behaviours is comparable to a drinker spending time at the bar instead of with his family or friends,” Tamblyn says.<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #aaaaaa; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">“The addiction becomes the focus of the addict’s life. The focus is to interact with the addiction before anything else. If this doesn’t happen, it results in mood swings and irritability.”<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #aaaaaa; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Internet addiction can be difficult to diagnose, says Dr. Greg Dubord, who teaches in the psychiatry department at the University of Toronto.<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #aaaaaa; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">“Drawing the line between normal Internet use and Internet addiction is often difficult, because no set criteria for diagnosing the disorder have been established by the American Psychiatric Association.”<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #aaaaaa; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">What is easy to recognize, however, is the impact of web overuse on our relationships.<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #aaaaaa; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Though social networking allows us to communicate with people all over the world, at times it seems to segregate us more than ever. Real-life interaction is often interrupted by bings and beeps. Thoughts become tweets and e-mails. Our fingers do the walking and the talking now.<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #aaaaaa; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">From neglecting friends and family members to creating severe relationship problems, the Internet and our attachment to it can consume our lives.<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #aaaaaa; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">One study documents 396 negative effects of the web on social involvement, including significant family problems, Dubord says.<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #aaaaaa; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">“Reports have shown that excessive use of the Internet resulted in personal and family problems, with 53% of test-takers reporting severe relationship problems,” he says.<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #aaaaaa; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">“Personal and family concerns extended to marriages, dating relationships, parent-child relationships, and close friendships.”<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #aaaaaa; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Dubord notes one case where a New York woman divorced her husband due to Internet overuse, and an extreme case involving a Korean couple so addicted to virtual games they let their three-month-old daughter starve to death.<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #aaaaaa; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">If you think you may have a problem, Tamblyn says the best thing to do is ask for help.<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #aaaaaa; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">“You can get an assessment at any treatment centre, or do it online and it’s anonymous. There are a lot of people struggling, and there’s a lot of help.”<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #aaaaaa; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><strong style="outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Too e-dependent? Greg Dubord points out some general warning signs:<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #aaaaaa; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><strong style="outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">1. Lose track of time online.<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #aaaaaa; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><strong style="outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">2. Failed attempts at moderating Internet behaviour.<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #aaaaaa; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><strong style="outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">3. Neglecting work, sleep, friends and/or family to spend time online.<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #aaaaaa; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><strong style="outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">4. Turning to the Internet in times of stress or sadness to feel better.<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #aaaaaa; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><strong style="outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">How to cut down, according to Laurie Tamblyn:<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #aaaaaa; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><strong style="outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">1. Give yourself short breaks throughout the day when you can’t check your messages. Try going for a walk without your smartphone.<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #aaaaaa; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><strong style="outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">2. Put your iPad to bed. Set a bedtime for your Internet devices.<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #aaaaaa; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><strong style="outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">3. Wi-Fi-free meals. Wash your hands of wireless devices before eating.<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #aaaaaa; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><strong style="outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">4. Put your computer in a high-traffic area to stay accountable to those around you.

the Internet has many of us on a very short leash – an addictive one.

Whether you’re mid-bite, mid-sentence or perhaps mid-sleep, do you react to that ‘bing’ from your smartphone? Or, is it the flashing red lig...

COLOMBIAN lingerie model dubbed "Narco Queen" was handed six years in jail

Fraser Trevor

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Title: COLOMBIAN lingerie model dubbed "Narco Queen" was handed six years in jail
Author: Fraser Trevor
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COLOMBIAN lingerie model dubbed "Narco Queen" was handed six years in jail yesterday after trying to ship cocaine to Europe in h...

COLOMBIAN lingerie model dubbed "Narco Queen" was handed six years in jail yesterday after trying to ship cocaine to Europe in her suitcases. Stunning Angie Sanclemente Valencia, 31, had denied helping her boyfriend recruit other beautiful young women to work for her international drug smuggling ring. The former beauty queen tried to take drugs from Argentina to Europe in late 2009 via Mexico. She was arrested in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in May 2010 after months on the run from police. Her attorney German Delgado said he would appeal the conviction. He insisted there was no proof, declaring that Sanclemente should be acquitted as she had no criminal record. Nicolas Gualco, her boyfriend, was also sentenced to six years and eight months for his role in the same plot. Sanclemente claimed during the trial in Argentina that she travelled to the country to marry Gualco and was not involved in the drug trade. She told the court: "I did not come here to commit crimes, I am not a narco-trafficker." She said all she had done for her boyfriend was "make a few calls", adding: "God knows I did it for love." Another man, Venezuelan Gustavo Paez Arneses, was sentenced to six years and two months for his role in the smuggling attempt.

COLOMBIAN lingerie model dubbed "Narco Queen" was handed six years in jail

COLOMBIAN lingerie model dubbed "Narco Queen" was handed six years in jail yesterday after trying to ship cocaine to Europe in h...

Chief Superintendent Mark Mathias from South Wales Police said: "Each addict can cost society not far off £850,000

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Title: Chief Superintendent Mark Mathias from South Wales Police said: "Each addict can cost society not far off £850,000
Author: Fraser Trevor
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Photo: PA Top officers warned of the increasing cost of drug-ravaged society with hundreds of millions is being spent on the increasing nu...

<div id="storyEmbSlide" style="color: #282828; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 10px; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px;"><div class="slideshow ssMain" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: #cccccc; padding-bottom: 3px;"><div class="nextPrevLayer" style="height: 319px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; position: relative;"><div class="ssImg" style="padding: 0px;"><img alt="Heroin addicts cost society £850,000 each, police warn" height="287" src="http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01852/h_1852940c.jpg" style="display: block; border: 0px initial initial;" width="460" /><div class="artImageExtras" style="font-family: arial; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div class="ingCaptionCredit" style="padding-top: 2px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;">Photo: PA</div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="byline" style="border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-color: #cccccc; margin-bottom: 5px; color: #282828; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 10px; background-color: #ffffff;"><p class="publishedDate" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 4px; padding-left: 0px; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.2em; line-height: 1.48em; color: #3f3f3f; float: left; width: 390px; margin: 0px;"> </div><div id="mainBodyArea" style="color: #282828; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 10px; background-color: #ffffff;"><div class="firstPar">Top officers warned of the increasing cost of drug-ravaged society with hundreds of millions is being spent on the increasing number of addicts.</div><div class="secondPar">Chief Superintendent Mark Mathias from South Wales Police said: "Each addict can cost society not far off £850,000.</div><div class="thirdPar">"You work through all the treatment, all the criminal justice issues that arise - then you see a significant costs involved."</div><div class="fourthPar">Police in Swansea have launched a £500,00 clampdown in the city known as the "heroin capital of Wales" where officers have seized 1,000 "deals" in the last two weeks.</div><div class="fifthPar">Superintendent Phil Davies said: "Some of these drug dealers have stated they are untouchable.</div><div class="body">"My message to them is there is no hiding place, we will find you, we will catch you and we will put you behind bars."Addict Amy Protheroe, 20, who has been an addict since she was 13 has just started her fifth treatment programme in Swansea.She said: "When you're a heroin addict you wake up and you think straight away: "Where am I going to get money from, where am I going to score from?'""You get up, you go out, you get the money for the heroin, you buy the heroin, you do the heroin and then it starts all over again."To be honest, heroin has wrecked my life."</div></div>

Chief Superintendent Mark Mathias from South Wales Police said: "Each addict can cost society not far off £850,000

Photo: PA Top officers warned of the increasing cost of drug-ravaged society with hundreds of millions is being spent on the increasing nu...

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the Internet has many of us on a very short leash – an addictive one.

COLOMBIAN lingerie model dubbed "Narco Queen" was handed six years in jail

Chief Superintendent Mark Mathias from South Wales Police said: "Each addict can cost society not far off £850,000

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