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It is understood at least one Auckland dairy was bullied into stocking Crack, but later pulled the product from its shelves. |
Mr Bell said legal high industry sources had confirmed the bullying tactics, but none would reveal who was responsible for making and distributing Crack. |
"The people behind Crack have a reputation in the industry as being pretty aggressive, and again it's not the behaviour you would expect of a industry that's trying to promote themselves as being responsible." |
Mr Bell said even illicit drug users were outraged by the product - including a former methamphetamine user who told him he was "gobsmacked" at its brazenness. |
"That reaction highlights for me that the industry has crossed the line by branding a product Crack and having drug paraphernalia on it. It's just one big piss-take because they know they can get away with this." |
Mr Bell said the product highlighted the need for regulation of the industry. |
People posting on tripme.co.nz - a local internet forum about drugs - were among those who condemned the product, with one saying it was "outrageous" and another slamming the marketing as "reckless". |
Matt Bowden, a pioneer of the legal high industry in New Zealand, said encouraging people to smoke the product was irresponsible. |
"I believe they should have gone the whole way and spelled the product name with a P," he said. |
"When white powders have been sold to the public in the past it has encouraged more dangerous routes of administration." |
Both the Ministry of Health and Associate Health Minister Peter Dunne, who is drafting legislation to clamp down on legal highs, were unaware of the product before APNZ made inquiries. |
Mr Dunne said its marketing came as no surprise. |
"It pretty well sums up this shabby industry and irresponsible kind of people it contains. It is somewhat ironic that they will go to the trouble of using these images but will not list the ingredients of their products." |
Mr Dunne said next year's law change to regulate the legal high industry could not come soon enough. |
"They will have to prove their products are safe before they sell them, and no doubt this will put the vast majority of these low-life types out of business." |
Crack's packaging does not list its ingredients, but gives the chemical registry number for phenethylamine - a compound which is structurally related to psychoactive drugs. |
Without chemical testing, it is impossible to tell what it actually contains. |
National Poisons Centre toxicologist Dr Leo Schep said phenethylamine was a naturally occurring compound which acted as a neurotransmitter in the brain, was present in chocolate, and purported to have benefits associated with mood and weight loss. |
"However, when ingested it is rapidly metabolised and rendered inactive, preventing significant concentrations in the brain." |
Dr Schep said one un-cited report suggested three males ingested an unknown amount of phenethylamine, resulting in increased heart rate, anxiety, nausea and vomiting. |
A Ministry of Health spokesman said phenethylamine was not controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act. |
"However the ministry has no details on this product and we do not know what it contains. As regards packaging, the use of the image, along with a non-listing of ingredients, could be viewed as irresponsible." |
Meanwhile, the New Zealander behind synthetic cannabis product Kronic, Matthew Wielenga, was arrested in Melbourne on Friday with more than 100kg of Kronic and 1kg of white powder, said to be a synthetic cocaine sold as Diablo. |
He appeared in a Melbourne court on Monday, charged with trafficking a commercial quantity of synthetic cannabinoids and two counts of possessing a drug of dependence, and was bailed until March. |
This is your opportunity to build in a beautiful subdivision. It's quiet and has mountain views. Everyone takes great pride in their property, and I know you won't be disappointed. Don't miss this property! Lots 10, 11, and 12 may be purchased as a whole for $58,000.00. |
Excellent building lot with a breath taking mountain view. This lot has been approved for a 3 bedroom septic system. Ready for your new home. Restrictions are under attachments. |
Abbott‘s (NYSE:ABT) Alere (NYSE:ALR) has agreed to pay $20 million to settle an investor’s suit claiming it made misleading statements about its blood diagnostics business shortly before its proposed billion-dollar merger with Abbott, according to recently released court documents. |
The suit was originally filed in 2016 by Judith Godinez in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, claiming infractions under specific sections of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, according to court documents. The suit was later consolidated with other suits as a class action complaint. |
In February 2017, Alere sought to dismiss the complaint, which was partially dismissed in August. The discovery process in the case began in December 2017, according to court documents, with more than 555,000 pages of documents produced by the defendant and non-parties. |
On March 7, 2018, lead counsel and defendants’ counsel joined a mediation session, though a settlement was not reached, according to court documents. Both parties continued to work towards a settlement, but continued the case as one had not yet been reached. |
“In light of the mediation, multiple motion hearings before the court, and additional discovery, plaintiffs were able to more accurately assess the merits and risks of continuing to prosecute the action and, in July 2018, the parties determined that they were close to reaching a settlement agreement. Accordingly, the p... |
Both parties arrived at a $20 million settlement deal, which was “memorialized in a term sheet” on August 31, 2018, filing a joint motion to stay proceedings which was granted days later, according to court documents. |
The settlement was agreed upon officially last week, according to court documents. |
Last March, the U.S. Dept. of Justice said that Alere agreed to pay $33.2 million to resolve allegations that it knowingly sold unreliable point-of-care diagnostic devices, causing hospitals to submit false claim to Medicare, Medicaid and other federal healthcare programs. |
Disconnected arcade machines line one of three storage units rented by the City of Glendale on Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2013. The city received the machines when they cleared a building on Brand Boulevard to make room for The Museum of Neon Art. |
Turns out the state law that forced Glendale to hold onto dozens of vintage arcade machines doesn't apply to the games at all, paving the way for an upcoming auction of the machines last valued at a total of roughly $100,000. |
More than 50 games, which have been collecting dust in storage for roughly three years are to be appraised by a specialist and then sold at auction, according to a City Council decision made this week at a City Hall meeting. |
The council had to decide what to do with the arcade machines, including two Ms. Pac-Mans and a Galaga game, after state Department of Finance officials said they didn't care about them. |
Originally, Glendale officials thought they did. |
The games — and the arcade in downtown Glendale that they once filled — were bought for roughly $1 million by a special city-related fund formed by a state program known as redevelopment that redirected certain property taxes for economic development in blighted areas. |
But in 2012, after a series of legal battles and political back-and-forth, Sacramento lawmakers scrapped redevelopment agencies throughout the state, including Glendale's, and froze their assets, including the arcade machines. |
The freeze was supposed to be temporary until state officials could decide what assets the agencies had to sell in order to relay the proceeds to other interest groups, such as school districts and counties. |
At first, Glendale kept the equipment in the former arcade building. However, when renovations started on the structure because it's going to be the site of the new Museum of Neon Art, the machines — ranging in fair market value from $1,000 to $9,000 — were put in storage. |
Nearly two years after the end of redevelopment, Glendale officials finally received word from their counterparts in the capitol that the Department of Finance was only interested in the forced sale of real property, such as land and buildings. |
Although the machines had been appraised several years ago when Glendale took over the arcade building — and the former business owner left them behind — council members called on a second opinion from an appraiser who specializes in arcade machines. |
"Maybe there's something old and funky and valuable," said Councilwoman Laura Friedman. |
The machines include games such as Galaga, a space-shooter game; Ms. Pac-Man, a maze game; and Extreme Hunting 2, a shooting game. There is also a two-seat, sit-down racing game called Initial D Arcade Stage Version 3. |
Once the appraisal is done, a variety of auction options may be considered, said City Manager Scott Ochoa, adding that officials can then tell interested buyers that "you're in for a penny, you're in for a pound, you're taking the whole lot." |
So far, five people have expressed interest in the machines, with some wanting all of them. |
Harsh or fair? Tough new.. |
A Melbourne council has set a high new bar for penalising dog-walkers who don’t pick up after their pets. |
The Casey Council will dish out $500 fines for leaving a dog poo behind. |
Anyone caught walking without a dog poo bag will be fined $200. |
Ben Smith, a professional dog-walker and the founder of the Cranbourne East Dog Owners Facebook page, told Ross and John”it’s a bit tough”. |
“It’s sending the message that not picking up your dog poo is just as dangerous as high-speed speeding,” he said. |
One caller has suggested we apply a $1000 fine for putting your poo bag in someone else’s bin. |
Jeff Sessions and the Wu-Tang Clan is a combination that goes together like peanut butter and gasoline, but they're been thrown together all the same. |
Sessions and the Department of Justice now control the fate of the rap group's Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, the single-copy album purchased for $2 million by convicted Pharma Bro Martin Shkreli. |
Shkreli, as you'll recall, was recently sentenced to seven years in prison for a variety of fraud charges and was ordered to forfeit roughly $7.4 million. Among the assets he was ordered to forfeit? That much-sought Wu-Tang album as well as a Picasso and an unreleased album by Lil Wayne. |
You can see the court order below, via Pitchfork. |
The government has been trying to get its hands on these items for months now, and it looks like they'll finally get their wish. Who knew they were such fans of the Clan? |
So what happens next? Well, Forbes reached out yesterday to the Department of Justice about that and the DOJ replied: "The United States hereby gives notice of its intent to dispose of the forfeited property in such manner as the United States Attorney General may direct." |
Which, yes, sounds very ominous especially when you consider that the image of Jeff Sessions setting the record on fire like the religious fervor that led to the destruction of many, many Beatles albums in the 1960s is a very plausible thing. |
But, really, the government is likely to sell the damn thing, which is interesting because Shkreli was put under some restrictions on what he could do with the album when he bought it. An attorney for the album's producers, Tarik "Cilvaringz" Azzougarh and Robert "RZA" Diggs, told Forbes whoever buys it will be subject... |
This is, of course, putting aside the controversy of whether or not the album is officially a Wu-Tang project which has swirled since this whole thing went down. |
Ultimately, the U.S. Attorney's office for the the Eastern District of New York is handling the whole affair but the thought of Jeff Sessions lording over the auction of Wu-Tang and Lil Wayne albums seized from Martin Shkreli is so 2018 it hurts. |
Amidst the excitement created by away wins at Leicester and Northampton, in seems to have almost gone unnoticed that Wasps have demolished the three most recent visitors to the Ricoh Arena to the aggregate tune of 199 points, and in the process racked up 27 tries. |
Some superb running rugby was at the heart of these victories, which, it should be noted, have all come in perfect conditions on the kind of immaculate surface, which as October gives way to winter, may soon be just a distant memory. |
This may all seem glaringly obvious, but the 2015-16 line-up undoubtedly preferred the sun on their backs, and very little cut in the underfoot conditions. Their worst performance of the season came on a cold, wet Manchester evening against Sale, while home wins against struggling Newcastle and Worcester could, and per... |
Mastering the full spectrum of weather, pitch, refereeing and opponents is one of the factors that sets champion teams apart from the rest, especially in the Northern Hemisphere. It is therefore essential to be able to adapt the tactical approach to the prevailing conditions, and Ashley Johnson believes Wasps are well ... |
“Conditions really play their part in England,” he says, “as pitches vary so much across the season. |
“We’ve been playing on awesome pitches so far this season. When I went on Franklin’s Gardens before the game I asked if it was a hybrid pitch, even though it is grass, because of how good it was. Welford Road’s new pitch is a huge improvement and the Ricoh is always excellent. |
“This is ideal for us because we’ve got so many guys who like to get their hands on the ball, but there are plenty of ways of playing winning rugby. |
“While we like the way we play at the moment, if we need to bite the bullet, like we did at Northampton, we’ve got the players to adjust the game plan and do that, and the likes of Joe Simpson, Danny Cipriani and Jimmy Gopperth are really good tactical kickers. |
Johnson has wound back the clock in recent weeks, and returned to the No.6 shirt where he began his Wasps career and played most of his senior rugby in his native South Africa. |
Prior to that, he was acquiring something of a reputation as an impact player, in fact it is difficult to think of anyone in the Premiership who provides as much instant energy from the bench as the likeable former Springbok. |
As Dai Young constantly reminds us, top-flight rugby is now a 23-man sport, but the thought that players may soon be selected as ‘specialist substitutes’ is not one Johnson warms to. |
“Rugby players would never want to be classified as bench players,” he says, “although you can see the importance of guys providing impact and go-forward and a lot of energy. |
“It’s all about the team, and if you have to do a job for the team it’s fine as long as you know you’re contributing and the team is winning. |
“We’re all experienced and mature enough to know it’s not just about the individual’s point of view, and while we’re disappointed when we’re not in the starting line-up, we recognise it’s about the team. |
22 Mar 2019, 6:31 p.m. |
We test a lot of smart home devices at PCMag, most of which are meant to work indoors. But there are also plenty of great gadgets designed for use outside, whether it's to balance the pH content of your pool, to mow your lawn, or to keep an eye on your property when you're of town. |
Here we've gathered some of the best backyard-friendly gadgets we've tested. It's a diverse selection, from feature-filled coolers to robotic pool cleaners. There's even a TV you can keep out in a thunderstorm. So if you're looking to bring the technological comforts of home to the great outdoors, look no further. |
Keeping your pool clean requires more than just scrubbing the walls and changing the filter. You need to monitor the pH levels of the water, and make sure there isn't anything disgusting or dangerous in it. That's what the cFloat is for. The cFloat is a smart pool water monitor that lets you know what the conditions ar... |
Even if you get the chemical levels just right, you still have to clean your pool. Better yet, you can have your pool-cleaning robot do it. The Polaris 9650iQ Sport is one of the best out there, with powerful programming and phone-based control options and plenty of helpful design elements. Its four-wheel-drive system ... |
The Husqvarna Automower 315X is one of the most advanced robot lawn mowers you can buy. It has both Bluetooth and cellular radios for remote control with your phone, and GPS for tracking its mowing progress anywhere on your property (up to 1.25 acres depending on the model). It's also one of the quietest robot mowers w... |
See our picks for the best robot lawn mowers for more options. |
If you love your lawn enough to install a multiple sprinkler system to keep it green and lush in the summer, you need a good sprinkler controller. The Rachio 3 is one of the best, controlling up to eight separate sprinkler zones with automatic weather-based or custom app-controlled watering schedules. You can even cont... |
If you have an Apple TV and a lawn but no complicated sprinkler system, the Elgato Eve Aqua might be the ideal device to you. It can turn any outdoor water spigot into a smart sprinkler, complete with schedule and voice control via Siri and Apple HomeKit. It's strictly for iOS and Apple TV users, but it can be the idea... |
Why settle for a cooler that just keeps your food cold? The Coolest Cooler is much more than a big plastic insulated box, thanks to a plethora of gadgets built in. It has serving utensils, a bottle opener, a Bluetooth speaker, a portable battery for charging your phone, and even a blender. Of course, all of those funct... |
The IcyBreeze Portable Air Conditioner and Cooler puts its cooling properties to work on you in addition to your food and drinks. Just fill the reservoir with cold water and the ventilation system will shower you with chilled air, up to 35 degrees Fahrenheit lower than the temperature around you. |
If you want to keep your backyard both well lit and secure, the Ring Spotlight Cam Battery can get the job done. It's a combination spotlight and camera, able to show you who's wandering around your property day or night, rain or snow. It can illuminate areas of your backyard, and even has a loud siren to draw attentio... |
For more, check out the best outdoor home security cameras. |
Most smart plugs are built to be used indoors. They aren't weatherproof or rugged, and will probably fry at the first drop of rain. That isn't the case for the Jasco myTouch Wi-Fi Outdoor Smart Plug. It lets you add schedules, timers, and voice assistant controls to your patio light, pool filter, or anything else you p... |
See the best smart plugs and power strips for more ways to get connected outside. |
Like smart plugs, most smart lights aren't built for outdoor use. You need lights and fixtures that can handle harsh weather, and that's where the Philips Hue Lily Outdoor Spot Lights come in. They're rugged, waterproof lights that can be mounted outdoors, and work on the Philips Hue smart light platform. That means yo... |
Check out the best smart light bulbs for more options. |
Most TVs won't hold up in a rainstorm, and you can't hose them clean if they get dirty. Those aren't problems for TVs made by SunBriteTVs, though. The company specializes in televisions that can work in heat and cold, sun and storm. The SunBriteTV Veranda series is the company's most affordable line, designed to be use... |
You don't need to run special wires outside to get music playing around the yard. You can just get a rugged Bluetooth speaker that can handle dirt and water. The JBL Charge 4 is a powerful little speaker with a very reasonable price tag and a colorful, waterproof design you can keep on the patio or near the pool. |
For more, head over to the best outdoor speakers we've tested. |
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