Cocaine, antidepressants found in roughly one-third of Minnesota lakes, study finds

Categories: Drugs, Environment
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Study: Our lakes are on drugs.
The ice just now receding from Minnesota's lakes looks like it's on drugs. So maybe it shouldn't come as a surprise to learn that our lakes are, in fact, full of them.

SEE ALSO: Minnesota House members vote to drug test themselves

A study put together by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (read it here) found that traces of cocaine are present in about one-third of Minnesota lakes, and about 30 percent contain the antidepressant Amitriptyline. Less intoxicatingly, more than three-fourths contain the insect repellant DEET.

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Mark Hamburger's MLB career derailed by pot; he now lives in parents' Shoreview basement

Categories: Drugs, Sports
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Hamburger's promising career stalled thanks to a "performance enhancing drug" -- not steroids, but ganja.
Think marijuana is a harmless drug? We mostly agree. But if you're looking for a sad pot-related story, look no further than the tale of 26-year-old Mounds View grad Mark Hamburger.

A GOOD PROBLEM TO HAVE? Moorhead police decry recent influx of Cali medical marijuana

Two years ago, Hamburger, a former Twins prospect, pitched five games for the Texas Rangers. His future seemed bright, and millions of dollars of income looked to be in his short-term future. But then he tested positive for pot. And then, this winter, he tested positive again.

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Bipartisan medical marijuana bill to be introduced today at Capitol

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Image by Tatiana Craine
Rep. Carly Melin, D-Hibbing (left) and Sen. Scott Dibble, D-Minneapolis (right), are the lead authors of the bill.
Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle will introduce companion bills to legalize medical marijuana today at the Capitol.

SEE ALSO: MNGOP spent $10,500 on study that supports legalizing medical marijuana

According to a press release distributed by the pro-marijuana law reform group Minnesotans for Compassionate Care, the bills have the maximum numbers of sponsors in each chamber -- 35 in the House and five in the Senate.

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Minnesota House members vote to drug test themselves

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Rep. Quam: "Bring on the cup!"
Apparently, our legislators aren't in the habit of unwinding with a big fat bowl of ganj after a long day at the Capitol. Either that or St. Paul headshops should stock up on system flushers.

SEE ALSO: Medical marijuana supported by vast majority of Minnesotans, but won't be legalized this year

That's because yesterday, members of the Minnesota House included a provision in the Health and Human Services budget bill calling for members to submit to drug tests. If they fail, they won't receive their salary.

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Moorhead police decry recent influx of Cali medical marijuana

Categories: Crime, Drugs
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Korey Okke (right) along with the alleged Cali pot and guns police found at his residence (left).
We can certainly think of worse problems to have, but Moorhead police say the latest one they're facing is an influx of California medical marijuana.

SEE ALSO: Kimani Young, new U of M assistant basketball coach, was once busted with 96 pounds of pot

Last Friday, police executing a search warrant arrested 25-year-old Korey Okke after he was found in possession of a pound of marijuana, packaging for over 100 pounds' worth, a 12-gauge shotgun, and a loaded .22 caliber revolver. Between Okke and two other recent busts, Moorhead police have found more than 38 pounds of medical herb since last month.

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Kimani Young, new U of M assistant basketball coach, was once busted with 96 pounds of pot

Categories: Crime, Drugs, U of M
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Twitter
New head coach Richard Pitino is bringing Young (pictured) from FIU with him.
Move over, Jerome Simpson and your six pounds of ganja. That's nothing compared to the stash new University of Minnesota assistant men's basketball coach Kimani Young was busted with back in the late '90s.

SEE ALSO: The new Green Giant looks like he just took a bong rip [PHOTO]

Young, a former college basketball star at UTEP in the mid-1990s, was convicted in 1999 of possessing an impossible-to-fathom 96 pounds of marijuana. He served a year in federal prison.

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Last Place owner Jim Carlson arrested again, one day after posting bail

Categories: Crime, Drugs, Duluth
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Carlson has been arrested twice in the past week -- first for alleged drug sales, then for a gun violation.
If it wasn't already clear, it's now more apparent than ever that Duluth officials are bound and determined to shut down the Last Place on Earth once and for all.

THE BACKSTORY: Jim Carlson's son allegedly sold bath salt used in recent overdose to an undercover agent

Just one day after posting $480,000 bail in connection with felony drug sales charges, store owner Jim Carlson is back behind bars.

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Apple Valley police stumble upon largest heroin bust in Dakota County history

Categories: Crime, Drugs
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Warren Comeaux was in the wrong place at the wrong time and is $140,000 poorer as a result, not to mention the felony charges he faces.
Last spring, law enforcement officials in Hennepin, Anoka, and Ramsey counties went public with concerns about a dramatic uptick in heroin use in the Twin Cities. It turns out a good portion of the metro area's supply may have been riding around in the car Apple Valley police found Warren Comeaux in last Friday.

SEE ALSO: Javier's Crew, Mexican heroin ring, busted in Twin Cities

Comeaux, a 48-year-old Brooklyn Park resident, was arrested and charged with felony counts of first-degree drug possession and sale after the car he was sitting in was found to contain more than twice as much heroin as Dakota County officials have ever seized in an entire year.

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Jim Carlson's son allegedly sold bath salt used in recent overdose to an undercover agent

Categories: Crime, Drugs
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Store photo from keithinalaska.wordpress.com
Carlson's mugshot as he was booked into jail last Friday.
Duluth officials regard The Last Place on Earth as a scourge on downtown and have been open about their desire to shut it down for some time. They got a perfect opportunity to do so when Jim Carlson's son allegedly sold an illegal bath salt to an undercover agent early last month.

THE BACKSTORY: Jim Carlson, owner of Last Place on Earth, arrested, says "The Nazis got me again"

According to a criminal complaint, Carlson's son, Joseph Gellerman, sold Riptipe, a purported bath salt that was found on a recent Duluth-area overdose victim, to an undercover member of the Lake Superior Drug and Violent Crime Task Force on March 5. The sealed silver baggies the agent purchased were then sent to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, where they were determined to contain an illegal stimulant that is a Schedule 1 controlled substance under Minnesota law.

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Jim Carlson, owner of Last Place on Earth, arrested, says "The Nazis got me again"

Categories: Crime, Drugs
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YouTube screengrab
Jim Carlson and a big sack of "incense."
By his own estimation, in 2011, Jim Carlson, owner of the Last Place on Earth in downtown Duluth, made $6 million selling synthetic marijuana and stimulants. But those high times have come to a crashing end.

Last summer, Carlson's store was raided by feds. In December, he was charged with 54 violations of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, the Controlled Substances Act, and the Controlled Substances Analogue Enforcement Act. Carlson could spend up to 20 years in prison if convicted of those charges.

SEE ALSO:
-- Duluth's "Operation Crackdown": 30 arrested in connection with cocaine-for-EBT card scheme
-- Adam Budge, 18, charged with murder following friend's synthetic drug overdose


Then, last Friday, Carlson was arrested as part of an undercover state investigation into bath salt sales. Today, he was charged with four felonies that could land him behind bars for another year.

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