Tweet To investigate the burden which extradition places on Britain’s criminal justice system, The Sunday Telegraph spent a week in the country’s sole extradition court. Of the 100 or so extradition hearings held every week at City of Westminster magistrates’ court, some involve career criminals or accusations of major crimes. But in many cases defendants appear bemused to find themselves in court over relatively minor matters, offences the ... Jump to full article >>

Tweet You might think that those who appear on the state’s latest list of delinquent tax payers for non-payment of a cigarette tax own a convenience store or some other retail operation. And in some cases that’s true. In Pennsylvania, the largest tax lien issued in connection with non-payment of cigarette tax is on the Putignano Candy and Cigar Co. in Vandergrift, Westmoreland County. The state list indicates the company owes a total ... Jump to full article >>

Tweet Six directors of the Office of National Drug Control Policy over the previous 3 administrations penned a cooperative op-ed Wednesday in opposition to California’s Proposition 19 ballot proposal to legalize marijuana. The editorial, written by Gil Kerlikowske, John Walters, Barry McCaffrey, Lee Brown, Bob Martinez and William Bennett — that’s every United States “drug czar,” including the current one — was ... Jump to full article >>

Tweet Oneida Indian Nation C.O.O. Peter Carmen says the Oneida Indian Nation will produce and sell more of their own brands of cigarettes and not pay for name brand cigarettes that carry a state sales tax. According to Carmen, the Oneida Indian Nation moved its cigarette manufacturing facility out of Western, N.Y. and to the City of Oneida, N.Y. in the former bingo hall of Territory Road. The goal is to be up and running by mid September, Carmen ... Jump to full article >>

Tweet The Republican leader who hopes to become the next speaker of the House criticized White House economic policies Tuesday in a speech that was met with a coordinated attack from Democrats that resembled the rapid response perfected during Barack Obama’s presidential campaign. Rep. John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) called for firing the Treasury secretary and repealing parts of the healthcare law, giving shape to a party agenda as Republicans tr ... Jump to full article >>

Tweet For a typical college student, if it didn’t happen on Facebook, it didn’t happen. That gives the social networking behemoth an out-sized influence on the confines of political debate, if that debate falls outside what Facebook deems acceptable discourse. Proponents of marijuana legalization, which is on the California ballot in 2010, have hit a Facebook wall in their effort to grow an online campaign to rethink the nation’ ... Jump to full article >>

Tweet A hefty state tobacco tax hike appears to have led to a huge drop in demand for cigarettes. But those who waged the war over the tobacco tax say it may be too early to draw conclusions about the long-term effects of the new tax. There is no way to track actual cigarette sales, but orders for the tax stamps that have to be attached to every pack sold in the state fell dramatically in July. Since July 1, when the state cigarette tax jumped f ... Jump to full article >>

Tweet A proposed Utah bill banning the sale of flavored tobacco products and novelty nicotine candies could lead to a lawsuit. A similar ban passed in New York City is being contested by several subsidiaries of Altria. Spokesman David Sutton says the lawsuit against the ban passed in the Big Apple argues regulating tobacco flavors is the purview of the federal government. “The Food and Drug Administration has overall authority for tobacco produ ... Jump to full article >>

Tweet Some Massachusetts towns have given up enforcing a law that decriminalized the possession of small amounts of marijuana, saying the law is written with too many loopholes to be effective. The law established a civil fine of $100 for those caught with an ounce or less of marijuana. That replaced what had been a criminal offense carrying a maximum penalty of six months in jail and a $500 fine, also for possession of an ounce or less of the dr ... Jump to full article >>

Tweet LAST week it was announced that Michael Douglas has cancer. Lesley-Ann Jones believes his greatest allies as he fights the disease are his feisty wife Catherine and tough-guy father Kirk However good the Hollywood superstar’s cancer prognosis, however optimistic his specialists that he has what it takes to survive, what Michael Douglas has felt every day since his throat tumour diagnosis are the most basic of human instincts: fear and dre ... Jump to full article >>