| April 9, 1999 #93 | ||||||||||||||||||
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A DrugSense publication | ||||||||||||||||||
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Table of Contents
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FEATURE ARTICLE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
The following was read to the Commission on the 19th of March @
5.15pm! | ||||||||||||||||||
STATEMENT TO THE COMMISSION ON NARCOTIC DRUGS | ||||||||||||||||||
"Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, and thank-you for allowing me
to address you here today. My name is Andria Efthimiou-Mordaunt and I
am a member of the International Coalition of Non-Governmental
Organisations working towards and just and effective drugs policy.
I am also an ex-injection drug-user living with Hepatitis C, and I
lost my husband to AIDS 4 years ago. | ||||||||||||||||||
I have been working in drug projects in London, mainly, for the last
12 years. I was also involved with the European Working Party on
HIV/Drug-Use which worked on various documents whose aims were to
accelerate the process by which HIV prevention programs could be
implemented. We were commissioned by the EC to write a memorandum,
which we made into a book entitled, "The situation for drug-users
in Europe." I am now managing an advocacy and skills program for
addicts affected by HIV and/or Hepatitis in London, and we are
supported by a few UK agencies. Indeed we arranged for an American
colleague with AIDS to address you at UNGASS last June in New York,
which I believe she did graciously. | ||||||||||||||||||
In several years of conference-attending I hear repeatedly the
intention of countries, governments, agencies, the expressed desire
to include the voices of those directly affected by drugs - people
who use them, people with HIV and other viral infections. However, i
very rarely see them in these fora. Indeed I've often secretly asked
myself what carries me to be here with you today and on other
occasions. Clearly it is much to with my husband, John's death. But
it is also these policies that you will decide upon in these
rooms will directly affect me and my community as they will ALL of
us, perhaps, for many years to come. Therefore it is incumbent on me
to take responsibility and address this prestigious audience of
VIP's. | ||||||||||||||||||
I am not a VIP; I wouldn't even call myself an expert on drug policy but I have extensive experience of working in the front line of drug-services where the action really takes place. I have also watched so many of my friends die from AIDS and/or from overdoses, that may have been prevented if only they knew what they were doing. | ||||||||||||||||||
In the country I come from, England, we have implemented
needle-exchange programs for well over a decade, with the result that
injectors have a very low rate of seroprevalence amongst them. Indeed
it is approximately 5%, as opposed to 30% in one of our largest
member states{[I was coerced into not saying America. It was either
say it and perhaps not be able to get in there again or don't say it.
so..]}where the government is STILL refusing to fund | ||||||||||||||||||
How does HR reduce drug-related deaths then? if people know what they
are drinking, injecting or smoking as in having medically prescribed
drugs/medications given to them by doctors, they do not have to
overdose or poison themselves; as you may well be aware, it is not
uncommon for illicit drugs to be cut with all manner of intoxicants
and/or lethal poisons. If people know what they are putting into
their bodies, they can make conscious decisions about it and act
accordingly. | ||||||||||||||||||
How do harm Reduction measures reduce the crime? It is a well-established fact that acquisitive crime in many countries is directly related to addictive drug-use. People who are dependent on drugs to live are often driven to despair, trying to buy drugs where they cannot afford the exorbitant prices of the streets; some of them commit petty robberies, or sell sex and drugs to support their drug habits. This is a tragedy, that I'm sure you will all agree with me, when I ask why we do not implement strategies which we know work? | ||||||||||||||||||
WE DO NOT WANT TO DO AWAY WITH TREATMENT PROGRAMS THAT PROMOTE | ||||||||||||||||||
CONCLUSION | ||||||||||||||||||
Perhaps the questions we really must be asking are to do with why
people want to take drugs in the first place; to do with poverty, and
other social and cultural disadvantages? Why do people feel the need
to "get out of their minds" and lose contact with reality? What is it
that is so painful about reality, that it is so difficult to cope
with? Until we answer these questions, will be like some addicts, in
the maze of confusion and pain that they feel powerless to get out
of. For this ex-addict it is way past time that we started to ask the
right questions? | ||||||||||||||||||
Thank-you very much for listening to me." | ||||||||||||||||||
I don't think this is even close to the way to the way John used to
address this folk but perhaps it's getting there. It's my hope and
prayer that this will encourage other addicts to get out there and
speak to these people ...so many of them seem to not know what
they're doing. IT's A SHAME | ||||||||||||||||||
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WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
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Domestic News- Policy COMMENT: (1-4) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Last week, the Balkan crisis pushed everything else off front pages,
but articles in the middle of many papers suggested that ONDCP is
stepping up its campaign to frighten and blame parents by suggesting
that if their kids use illegal drugs it's because they weren't talked
to properly- not because of an a flourishing black market created by
unwise policy. | ||||||||||||||||||
Articles from around the country illustrate a similar pattern: the
federal government attempting to develop local allies; not mentioned
in the Florida article: the proposed state drug czar is James
McDonough, a McCaffrey clone from ONDCP. | ||||||||||||||||||
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(1) U.S. TARGETS DRUGS, VIOLENCE IN SCHOOLS, CRIME (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
$300 million in grants is meant to support programs that are proved
effective, officials say. Some experts, citing track record, are
skeptical. | ||||||||||||||||||
WASHINGTON Spurred by last year's spate of school yard shootings,
federal officials committed $300 million in new grants Thursday to
school districts that can demonstrate effective ways of combating
violence and drugs. | ||||||||||||||||||
The program will provide up to $3 million per year for three years to
50 public districts that, through an application process, can put
together a comprehensive strategy in areas such as gang intervention,
school security, mental health treatment and mentoring. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(2) FEDERAL OFFICIALS FORGE ANTI-DRUG PARTNERSHIP WITH MARYLAND, OREGON (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) -- Federal drug czar Barry McCaffrey signed an
agreement Friday with Maryland to make the state, along with Oregon, a
national model for a joint federal-state partnership in the battle
against drug abuse. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
McCaffrey said the nation's drug problems cannot be solved by the
federal government. | ||||||||||||||||||
"At the end of the day, the drug problem will be solved by the counties
and cities of Maryland...," McCaffrey said. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(3) GENERAL SENDS ANTI-DRUG MESSAGE TO KIDS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
SOUTHINGTON - The nation's anti-drug chief, General Barry R. McCaffrey,
director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy,
warned grass-roots activists and community leaders of the consequences
of drug use in our country. | ||||||||||||||||||
"We have more people behind bars than we do in the armed forces and
it's going to go up if we don't do something about it," he said at the
Aqua Turf Club Wednesday night. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(4) DRUG WAR WITHOUT A PLAN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
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Coordinated strategy may be more effective in curbing abuse. | ||||||||||||||||||
A city commissioner wants the chief to prove the police department's
prevention programs work. A child-abuse investigator needs help
justifying to a court her decision to put the child of an alcoholic
mother in foster care. | ||||||||||||||||||
In today's show-me-the-results society, such questions arise every day. Life-altering decisions are based on such statistics. But what if they aren't there? What if nobody knows which programs work and which don't? | ||||||||||||||||||
That's how it is in Florida, where 14 state agencies, thousands of
private nonprofit social-service organizations and hundreds of police
departments try to cope with the drug problem. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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Law Enforcement & Prisons | ||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (5-9) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
DrugSense Weekly, #081 (January 14, 1999), cited a series by Kansas
City Star reporter Karen Dillon on collusion between local police and
DEA officials to divert forfeiture revenue from schools. It's hardly
surprising that the technique is being used elsewhere. | ||||||||||||||||||
Just what forfeiture may represent can be inferred from totals in a small Pennsylvania county; the body of the article indicates that the money raised is but a fraction of the property's replacement value. | ||||||||||||||||||
The Providence, experience suggests that the forfeiture scam has been
very loosely monitored nearly everywhere; in the aggregate, it's a
powerful inducement favoring "drug enforcement" over other types of
crime. | ||||||||||||||||||
The prison issue remains alive; Jerry Large's column presents a
slightly different take on a problem which has received considerable
attention since December '98. | ||||||||||||||||||
Finally, a thoughtful editorial in the Fresno Bee illustrating the
ripple effect of influential op-eds; it cited John Di Iulio's recent
WSJ piece (DSW #91), before raising a subject which would have been
heretofore unthinkable in the Central Valley: reversal of prison
growth. | ||||||||||||||||||
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(5) DRUG SEIZURE MONEY BYPASSING SCHOOLS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
This is one in a series of World-Herald articles looking back on the
20th century. | ||||||||||||||||||
When Nebraska law officers confiscate large bundles of cash linked to
drug dealing, the state's constitution directs that half the money go
to schools. | ||||||||||||||||||
But that rarely happens. | ||||||||||||||||||
Instead, police funnel the drug money through the federal government,
which takes a 20 percent cut and returns the rest to the local
law-enforcement agency that confiscated the money. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(6) DRUG DEALERS' PROPERTY ON AUCTION BLOCK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
BRISTOL TOWNSHIP -- Those of us in the market for a pair of size 10
men's Gucci loafers, queen-size satin sheets or a 1989 Geo Spectrum
just got lucky. | ||||||||||||||||||
In a case of Miami Vice meets Monty Hall, the Bucks County District
Attorney's Office will auction off personal property seized from
convicted drug dealers during the last eight months. | ||||||||||||||||||
Scheduled for April 24 in Bristol Township, the auction is the 16th in a series that since 1987 has generated $745,342 to pay for undercover narcotics investigations and crime-fighting equipment in the county. | ||||||||||||||||||
And $872,909 more has been raised by auctioning seized real estate. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(7) PROVIDENCE POLICE LACK RECORDS ON SEIZED CARS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
The Department's Failure To Account For Hundreds Of Cars Comes To Light
After Questions Are Raised About The Trail Of A 1991 Honda Seized In A
Drug Case. | ||||||||||||||||||
PROVIDENCE -- Over the past eight years, the Providence Police Department says, it has sold 250 cars seized in drug arrests. | ||||||||||||||||||
But the department has almost no records of how much the cars were sold
for, or who bought them. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(8) WE'RE ALL PRISONERS OF OUR INCARCERATION POLICIES (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Everybody knows we've been sweeping something under the rug. The lump is too big not to notice, but until recently few people have had any inclination to clean house. Terry Kupers thinks that is changing. | ||||||||||||||||||
Kupers, a psychiatrist, says that for too long, mentally ill people
have been disappearing into prisons while the rest of us looked the
other way. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
We've been fooled (willingly) into believing our biggest problem is
crime, so that while we focus on locking up as many people as we can,
the real problems - joblessness, homelessness, inadequate education,
drug abuse, inequality - go unaddressed and keep churning out new
people for us to imprison. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(9) EDITORIAL: ENOUGH PRISONS? (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Over the last two decades we Americans showed our disgust with crime in
a very American way: We threw money at the problem, most notably by
turning prisons and jails into a growth industry. Now, with the crime
rate falling and the number of Americans behind bars at 1.8 million,
more than the combined populations of Alaska, North Dakota and Wyoming,
there's a budding sense on both left and right that the law, of
diminishing returns applies as much to imprisonment as other human
endeavors. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
Having learned to deploy that language in ways that appealed to voters,
politicians face the risky challenge of backing away from the words
when they no longer fit the policy facts. As hard as that will be, it's
an essential job for the state's and nation's leaders if we are to stop
throwing money in the wrong place. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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Cannabis & Hemp | ||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (10-13) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
The IOM report continued to receive thoughtful analysis from some,
while those of a more prohibitionist mind-set predictably seized upon
the smoking issue to downplay its (timid) recommendation that Cannabis
be made available for those with a demonstrated need. | ||||||||||||||||||
The irrationality of our policy towards therapeutic Cannabis is
exactly mirrored by the irrationality of our policy toward hemp
agriculture. Economic realities along the Canadian border are now
putting pressure on that particular doctrine. | ||||||||||||||||||
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(10) WHEN THE MEANS CLASH WITH THE ENDS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
While I was off examining my navel in Indiana, the results of two
important studies that arrived at uncomfortable conclusions were made
public. | ||||||||||||||||||
The first, conducted by the National Academy of Sciences, said flatly
that marijuana eases pain and quells nausea in cancer and AIDS patients
and that there is no clear evidence that smoking it leads to
consumption of heroin, cocaine or other narcotics. The "drug war"
commandos are going to have a tough time ignoring this study since it
was commissioned by Barry McCaffrey, head of the Office of National
Drug Control Policy, and its findings are backed by an impressive panel
of 35 experts who spent 18 months taking public testimony and
evaluating scientific studies on marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||||
But authorities already are running away from their own study because
its conclusions don't square with conventional thinking or
administration policy. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(11) THE SMOKE CLEARS: MARIJUANA CAN BE MEDICINAL, BUT THE SMOKE IS NOT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
A new report on marijuana by the Institutes of Medicine offers a
rational approach to one of the nation's most controversial substances.
In the most comprehensive review to date by a panel of distinguished
medical experts, the IOM has concluded that certain chemicals inside
marijuana known as THC and cannabinoids are, indeed, medicine. The
medical challenge now is to isolate all of marijuana's helpful
ingredients from the harmful ones in some new form, such as a pill or
vapor that is inhaled. The political challenge is how to handle
marijuana in the coming years (and they may be many) before a real
alternative to the joint is on the market. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(12) FARMERS LOBBY TO LEGALIZE THE GROWING OF HEMP (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
BISMARCK, N.D. -- Dennis Carlson sold his first wheat, grown on a field
borrowed from his parents, in 1975, when he was 14 years old. He earned
$4.51 a bushel and resolved to follow his father, grandfather and
great-grandfather into farming. | ||||||||||||||||||
Nearly 24 years later, spring wheat is selling for $2.91 a bushel, and
Carlson worries whether he can afford to plant next month. "We're going
to get a low price," he said. "And if we get a bumper crop, it's going
to get lower." | ||||||||||||||||||
Battered by sinking commodity prices and rising costs, Carlson and
other wheat farmers are looking across the Canadian border at a crop
they say could help save them -- if only it were legal. That crop is
hemp, a non-intoxicating look-alike cousin of marijuana grown around
the world for its fiber, seed and oil. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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International News | ||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (13-18) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Two nations McCzar often cites as drug war successes were in last week's news; there was a large cocaine seizure in Lima, despite Peru's oft alleged success in reducing cultivation- must have come from Colombia. Ditto, Thailand, frequently asserted to have dealt successfully with its drug problem (but with zero supporting evidence). | ||||||||||||||||||
In the English-speaking world, cheap, pure heroin continues to kill the unwary and inspire politicians to a US-style "tough on drugs," response, but without noticeable benefit. What is different is that a newspaper would take such direct issue with the responsible functionary- in this case, Australian Prime Minister Howard. | ||||||||||||||||||
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(13) PERUVIAN POLICE SEIZE TWO TONS OF COCAINE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
LIMA, April 1 (Reuters) - Peruvian police on Thursday made the largest
cocaine seizure in the Andean country in four years, discovering more
than two tons (tonnes) of the drug hidden among fish in a refrigerated
storage container, authorities said. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(14) THAI VILLAGERS KILLED IN APPARENT DRUGS DISPUTE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
BANGKOK, - Suspected guerrillas have raided a Thai village near the
Myanmar border, taking hostages and killing nine in an apparent drug
trafficking dispute, police said on Friday. | ||||||||||||||||||
A group of about 30 gunmen, believed to be members of the United Wa State Army, attacked Maesoon village in Chiangmai province, about 750 km (469 miles) north of Bangkok late on Thursday, they said. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(15) SCOTLAND: TORIES DEMAND LIFE SENTENCES TO COMBAT DRUGS MENACE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
DRUG dealers convicted for the second time should be given mandatory life sentences, the leader of the Scottish Tory party said yesterday. | ||||||||||||||||||
In the toughest and most radical stance taken by any political party on
Scotland's drug problem, David McLetchie advocated a 'two strikes and
you're out' sentencing approach to dealers. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(16) 'TOO PURE' HEROIN CLAIMS 14 LIVES (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Abnormally pure batches of heroin circulating in two cities have claimed 14 victims in two months, police revealed yesterday. | ||||||||||||||||||
Two men in Bristol have died after injecting the drug in the past two
days, bringing the number of deaths from heroin in the city since the
start of February to 10. In Manchester four people have overdosed in
less than three weeks. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(17) AUSTRALIA: MORE TEENAGE GIRLS USING ILLICIT DRUGS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Heroin and cannabis use among teenage girls in Australia has risen
dramatically in recent years, according to a Federal Government survey
released yesterday. | ||||||||||||||||||
The figures, which come a week before the Prime Minister unveils a new
strategy in his war on drugs, show 46 per cent of the population in
Australia admitted last year to having used illicit drugs - up from
39.3 per cent in 1995. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(18) AUSTRALIA: EDITORIAL: THE PM MUST LISTEN ON DRUGS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
The Prime Minister should heed the advice of others on this problem if
he is to lead on it. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
...Mr Howard's advocacy of punitive measures smacks of the sort of | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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HOT OFF THE 'NET (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
DrugSense Hosts MarijuanaNews.com | ||||||||||||||||||
DrugSense is proud to announce that it has become the host of and now
provides the web resources for MarijuanaNews.com at | ||||||||||||||||||
This important site, created and run by Richard Cowan, provides a great
resource for marijuana news, issues and comment. We are delighted to be
able to offer this support. | ||||||||||||||||||
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Peter McWilliams writes: | ||||||||||||||||||
I have opened Online the McWilliams Mall, a place where you can buy
practically anything. Please browse around and see the range of stores,
and the next time you're in the market for something, kindly buy it at
the McWilliams Mall. It will cost you no more than if you visited that
store directly, and I'll get a percentage. (This will help to defend
the legal MMJ case against McWilliams) | ||||||||||||||||||
If you have a web page and can post a link to the McWilliams Mall, that
would be most appreciated. | ||||||||||||||||||
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TIP OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
War on Drugs Clock a Good Way to Make a Quick Point | ||||||||||||||||||
The War on Drugs Clock at: http://www.drugsense.org/wodclock.htm is a great way to quickly make a point to those who are uninformed about the devastating impact drug policy is having on our country. | ||||||||||||||||||
A great way to spend a little free time is to go to the media email list at http://www.mapinc.org/resource/email.htm then select some newspaper email addresses and send off a short note something like this: | ||||||||||||||||||
Would you like to see billions of dollars and thousands of lives going
down the drain as you watch? Please visit the "War on Drugs" Clock at:
http://www.drugsense.org/wodclock.htm | ||||||||||||||||||
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Fact of the Week | ||||||||||||||||||
The IOM Report is Not New Information | ||||||||||||||||||
Commissioned by President Nixon in 1972, the National Commission on
Marihuana and Drug Abuse concluded that "Marihuana's relative potential
for harm to the vast majority of individual users and its actual impact
on society does not justify a social policy designed to seek out and
firmly punish those who use it. This judgment is based on prevalent use
patterns, on behavior exhibited by the vast majority of users and on
our interpretations of existing medical and scientific data. This
position also is consistent with the estimate by law enforcement
personnel that the elimination of use is unattainable." | ||||||||||||||||||
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QUOTE OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
"Insanity ... Continuing to do the same things and expecting different
results." -- Albert Einstein | ||||||||||||||||||
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