The Stable Isotope Ratios of Marijuana. II. Strontium Isotopes Relate to Geographic Origin

Abstract:  Effectively addressing marijuana trade is aided by understanding marijuana geographic sources. We analyzed the ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr of marijuana samples grown in 79 counties across the United States to determine if a primary geologic signal is retained in marijuana, which could therefore be useful for geographic sourcing. The marijuana results were compared with modeled bedrock ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr values based on ⁸⁷Rb decay rates and a generalized geologic map of the U.S.A. A significant correlation was observed between marijuana ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr and modeled bedrock ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr. Although values clustered near the 1:1 relationship, there was a predominance of positive anomalies, perhaps attributable to carbonate bedrock. A small number of negative anomalies were also observed, which were generally associated with granitic bedrocks. These results suggest that strontium isotopes in marijuana record the geographic origins of marijuana, and that refinement of the base strontium map (or strontium isoscape) and improved understanding of other strontium sources would be productive.     

A comparative analysis of trade and economic integration in East Asia and Latin America

This paper provides an analysis of the two channels of regional integration: integration via markets and integration via agreements. Given that East Asia and Latin America are two fertile regions where both forms of integrations have taken place, we examine the experiences of these two areas to illustrate our conclusions. There are three related results. First, East Asia has been integrating via the markets long before formal agreements have been in vogue in the region. Latin America, on the other hand, has primarily been using formal regional trade treaties as the main channel of integration. Second, despite the relative lack of formal regional trade treaties until recently, East Asia is more integrated among itself than Latin America. Third, from a purely economic and trade standpoint, the proper sequence of integrations seems to be first integrating via the markets and subsequently via formal regional trade agreements. One interpretation of the relative success of the East Asian approach is that regional trade agreements often serve multiple constituents. Integrating via markets first can be helpful because this can give a stronger political bargaining power to the outward-looking economic-oriented forces within the country.     

The Battlefield Behind Bars: How Mental Disorder and Suicidal Behavior Impacts the Prison Experience for Veterans

American Journal of Criminal Justice - Military veteran status has been associated with a variety of criminal justice outcomes as well as higher rates of mental illness and suicide when compared to...     

A reflection on the priorities of a data protection authority

Eric Howe, the first Data Protection Registrar, was setting up his Office about the same time as the first appearance in 1985 of this journal, whose distinguished editor Professor Saxby is now retiring. That is this author's excuse for looking back to the early years of United Kingdom data protection and reflecting on what a data protection authority is actually for. As this article hopes to make clear, using the early United Kingdom experience as an example, Data Protection Authorities are faced with an unclear role running the risk of creating false expectations among the general public. The author concludes that representations to government are often minimally effective and that with the limited resources available a DPA should give priority to encouraging compliance by data controllers and assisting individuals with a complaints resolution service.     

Elite Interactions and Voters’ Perceptions of Parties’ Policy Positions

Recent research documents that voters infer that governing coalition partners share similar ideologies, independently of these parties’ actual policy statements. We argue that citizens estimate party positions from more general forms of interparty cooperation and conflict, particularly near the times of national elections. We analyze tens of thousands of media reports on elite interactions from 13 Western democracies between 2001 and 2014, and show that—controlling for coalition arrangements and for the policy tones of parties’ election manifestos—voters infer greater left–right agreement between pairs of parties that have more cooperative public relationships, but that this “cooperation effect” is only evident near the times of national elections. Our findings have implications for parties’ policy images and for mass–elite linkages.     

Francis Fukuyama: Democracy Needs Elites

“Populism exists because institutions are elite‐driven,” but democracies don't work well without elites, says the acclaimed author of The End of History.     

Neck injuries: II. Atlantoaxial dislocation--a pathologic study of 14 traffic fatalities.

C1-C2 vertebral dislocations have not been commonly recognized at autopsy. Among 66 subjects with neck injuries, drawn from a series of 155 traffic fatalities, were 14 with injuries at the level of the atlantoaxial motion segment, ranging in age from 8 months to 93 years. Thirteen had sprains or lacerations of the atlantoaxial facet joints, and one had a healed C1 fracture. Six of the 14 had odontoid fractures. None had transverse ligament lacerations. Injuries of the alar ligaments and the tectorial membrane were frequent. Only 3 subjects had subaxial cervical injury. All 14 had evidence of impact to the head or neck. Four had fractures of the mandible or facial bones, and 5 had skull fractures. Subdural and subarachnoid hemorrhages were found in 7 and 6, respectively. Brainstem lacerations were not uncommon, but only one had a pontomedullary laceration. Spinomedullary cord injuries occurred in 5. Acute neurogenic shock was the major mechanism of death in 9 of the 14, including 5 with major cardiovascular lacerations. Delayed effects of craniocerebral trauma accounted for the majority of the remainder. The biomechanical mechanisms are discussed.     

Sources of judicial attitudes toward criminal sanctioning

Through a 1979 survey of 89 Illinois judges, the present study attempts to assess how various social, political, and occupational factors influence judicial attitudes toward criminal sanctioning. Specifically, our analysis examined the relative impact of background characteristics (e.g. age, community context) versus occupational variables (e.g., years on the bench, former prosecutor and/or defense attorney) on five sanctioning scales: rehabilitation, punishment, capital punishment, punishing white-collar offenders, and the treatment of juvenile delinquents. The analysis revealed that political orientation was the most important variable examined. Political ideology was found to be related to all but one of the sanctioning scales (punishing white-collar offenders). In contrast, the social and occupational variables generally were not significantly related to judicial attitudes on the purposes of sentencing.